A New Perspective
by ddh1973
Summary: When Ward's aunt arrives at The Playground looking for help in finding him, she helps Skye make a choice that leads her away from Shield to find her own answers about what she wants for her life. Takes place after What We Become and will eventually become Skyeward.
1. A Difficult Decision

Title: A New Perspective

Author: Debra

Rating: Teen

Summary: When Ward's aunt arrives at The Playground looking for help in finding him, she helps Skye make a choice that leads her away from Shield to find her own answers about what she wants for her life. Takes place after What We Become and will eventually become Skyeward.

Author's Notes: In my AU Series starting with A Different Life, Skye was adopted at nine years old by Ward's aunt Lily, an original character of mine that is also gifted. I started to think what if in the canon of the series she needed maternal advice from a prospective that May can't understand, someone who understands what it is like to deal with a power that needs to be controlled.

Disclaimer: The known characters in this story belong to Marvel.

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><p>Six months had passed since the events of San Juan and it was a warm day in the beginning of May that brought Lily Ward to the Shield base known as The Playground. She ran her fingers anxiously through her dark hair as she waited for Phil Coulson, the director of Shield to come down from his office and talk to her. She had been brought to their base with a bag over her head to prevent her from knowing where The Playground was located. What they didn't know was that she already knew where it was located because of her own ties to Nick Fury and the old Shield before that mess with Hydra had started. A mess her nephew had found himself in the middle of.<p>

"Miss Ward, if you came to here to keep us from catching your nephew and putting him back into a prison cell, you are wasting your time," Melinda May said as she walked over to where Lily was standing.

"Agent May, I think you remember exactly what I am and what I am capable of. I am dying to kick your ass for what you did to my nephew. The only reason I haven't blasted you off of your ass and into that wall is because unlike you, I want to do this the nice way instead of fists first. You really won't like me if I have to use my powers to get you to back the fuck off," Lily said, glaring at May, who wisely backed off, knowing exactly what Lily Ward was and what she could do to her.

"My mother is dying and her last request is to see her entire family. My brother, his wife and Christian have been brought out of hiding and are already at our home in the Hamptons. Thomas and Louise, Grant's other siblings are already there."

"Grant didn't kill his family?"

Lily took in the young woman that had asked the question and could feel the uncontrolled power radiating from her. She also sensed a deep well of confused feelings towards Grant, there was hatred at the things he had done but also a longing that she refused to let come to surface. A longing for him to have been the man she had thought he was.

She quickly realized that this was Skye, the woman her nephew thought he was in love with. She had her doubts because given the lies that had been told by him, she didn't know the real Grant and he didn't know that woman that his lies had turned her into. Now with her newfound powers and his own issues, neither one of them were ready for any kind of relationship of a romantic nature.

"No, he didn't. It was a ruse to get Grant an in with Whitehall. I used my powers to help him but only after he got a confession out of Christian about his part in what happened to Thomas. It was what Grant needed to help him start to deal with his past."

"So you are a gifted?"

Lily could sense the young woman had questions and needed them from someone who could understand what she was going through. She gently touched Skye on her arm, ignoring Agent May taking a step forward as if to stop her.

"If you need any advice for what is going on with you, I will try to help you. I don't have your exact power but I know what it is like to learn to control a power that you didn't ask for but is apart of who you are from birth."

"How did you know?"

"One of my gifts is to sense power in others, along with others that come with being a witch."

A look of disbelief came over Skye's face until she saw the look of fear in May's eyes. Her SO knew what Lily was and that was why she hadn't responded to Lily's confession of wanting to kick the older woman's ass. Lily Ward was the one person that could physically hurt the Calvary.

"How did you become one?"

Skye and Lily sat down at a table in the common room, each of them ignoring the audience that was gathering around them.

"My 'gift' was passed down through the female line of my family. It started with a curse on my family back in 1690 when a member of my family who set himself up as judge, jury and executioner for 'witches' in his village killed the wrong two women. Their sister was actually a witch and cast a curse on his family. His daughter became a witch and her brother's unborn daughter became one at her birth. There can be only one female born to each generation of the Ward family and at least one male. One of his children will be a daughter to carry on the family curse. Given that Christian can't conceive a child because I hit him in the groin with a bat when he was sixteen after I caught him tormenting Grant and Tommy. Tommy is not a biological Ward and Louise was born with the same power I have, so the conception of the next generation witch falls to Grant. Given his attitude about becoming a parent, I think it will die out with Louise."

"Magic is not scientifically possible," Simmons stated as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Lily held out her right hand, palm facing upwards and a ball of bright white energy formed in it. She took her left hand and moved it to that hand before it disappeared. The gasps of shock from everybody but May and Coulson, who was watching from the doorway, carried around the room.

"I have lived with this from the time I was sixteen years old Dr. Simmons. Given every extraordinary thing you have seen as a Shield agent, I find it confusing that you are so sure that magic doesn't exist. You sound like Grant; he refused to believe that the curse is real until he saw it in action six months ago."

"If you have talked to him, why are you here looking for him?"

"He disappeared after San Juan and he is off of the grid. I have investigators searching his safe houses but nothing has turned up."

"He is probably somewhere recovering from when I shot him," Skye said quietly.

Lily used her magic to sense Skye's thoughts and gasped in shock at the other woman shooting Grant in the back four times. She could feel the anger and hatred Skye had felt for him that day but also a need to keep his stubborn ass from following her down into the tunnels to certain death.

A vision came into Lily's mind and she then saw a woman that looked like Agent May but with scars on her face help him out of the building. She also saw another man wearing a suit come across them and help the woman with Grant.

"Skye, if you hadn't of done that, he would have followed you into those tunnels and would have died just like your friend did. I know my nephew and he is one of the most stubborn people God put on this planet especially when it comes to protecting someone he cares about. It has led him into doing some of the stupidest shit ever; like dropping a pod out of an airplane, thinking it would make things better instead of ten times worse."

"You got that right," a young man with curly blond hair muttered.

"Mr. Fitz, you have every right to be angry with Grant and I don't blame you for cutting the oxygen off to his cell. It might have been an extreme way of doing it but he needed to know exactly what his actions caused to happen to you in a way that you couldn't tell him yourself," Lily gently stated. "He forgave you the moment you did it because he felt like he deserved it."

"Did you sense all of this with your magic?"

Lily turned to face the tall blond haired woman that asked the question.

"That and I had a long conversation with him while we were planning out how to fake his parents' death, Agent Morse. My nephew knows better than to lie to me because I can sense it and also have some personal experience with being lied to by someone I loved. He knows I will zap him in the ass for it, just like I did to the person who betrayed me."

"I can see if he still has the cell phone he called me from," Skye said before cringing at the glare May gave her. She hadn't told Coulson or May about him calling her right after Bakshi was captured.

"Let me have the phone and I will call him, he might not want to talk to you, Skye."

"How are you going to let him know that it is you?"

"We have a question that only the two of us and his other siblings know the answer to and when I answer it, he will know it is me. Of course we will be changing the question the next time I see him."

Skye went and got Bakshi's phone and found the unknown number that Grant called her from. She dialed it and handed the phone to Lily, who put the phone on speaker phone.

"_**I don't want to talk to you, Skye," Grant harshly bit out over the phone.**_

"This isn't Skye."

"_**Aunt Lily?"**_

"Yes, now ask the question."

"_**What kind of bat did you hit Christian in the balls with?"**_

"I hit that idiot in the balls with a Louisville Slugger." Lily said, ignoring the snorts of laughter coming from the people with her. "Now call me on my cell so we can talk in private, it is important."

Lily hung up the phone and waited for a few seconds to the sound of her cellphone ringing. She quickly answered it, heading towards the exit. She walked out and took the elevator up to the surface, not noticing that Skye was right behind her and ignoring the shouts of May and Coulson ordering her to come back.

As they stood outside of where the base was, Lily answered her phone and started to talk to Grant.

"Your grandmother is dying. If you aren't at our home in the Hamptons by the time I get there, I will kick your ass when you do show up, Grant Douglas."

She hung up the phone and turned to face Skye, who was waiting quietly for Lily to finishing talking.

"Let me go with you. I have so many questions about how to control my powers and if I haven't found them here in the six months since I got them, I never will."

"If I allow this, I have some rules. You are to stay away from Grant; at least until he is finished dealing with his dying grandmother and that rabid bitch he calls a mother. After my mother passes and has been laid to rest, we will go to my farm in Virginia where I will teach you to control your powers and then when you feel comfortable with them, you can either stay or go back to Shield, the choice is yours. You are a grown woman and not a child; I won't treat you like one or a soldier that has to follow orders."

"Thank you. Let me go and get my stuff."

Skye went back into the base and came back fifteen minutes later, tears in her eyes.

"Coulson and May had objections to you leaving," Lily stated.

"Yes, they told me that I was making a mistake and that you could be just as manipulative and twisted as your nephew."

"They have a point but then again, my nephew was manipulated by three of the most selfish people ever born. He says that he wasn't brainwashed but he was so messed up by his own mother, brother and that asshole John Garrett, he wouldn't know it if he was brainwashed."

Skye followed Lily into the limo that was waiting for them and glanced up to see May and Coulson watching from the window before getting into the car with Lily.

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><p>AN: Grant is in the next chapter and he won't be happy to see Skye but has other things on his mind to deal with. I have written the next five chapters already and while Skye and Ward have some close moments, there isn't any real romance between them. I have started on chapter seven and there is a twist or two in regards to Ward's past and one storyline from season one will come back to make his life even more difficult. I will update this every day if not every other day at least until I get all of the previously written chapters posted.<p> 


	2. A Heartbreaking Reunion

Skye was in awe as she stepped out of the limo that had brought her and Lily from the airport and took in the two story thirty five hundred square foot home. It was only on a half-acre of land but sat on the shore of Sag Harbor and had grey siding and two huge decks on both levels of the house.

She had heard that Grant had come from money but this was beyond her expectations. He should have had an idyllic life but it really is true when they say that 'money can't buy happiness'.

Lily led her into the house and the first thing she heard was a woman drunkenly berating someone somewhere in the house. She quickly followed Lily into the living room to the sight of a woman in her sixties with grey hair standing in Grant's face. She could see him clenching his fists, fighting not to punch his own mother.

"You always have been a worthless piece of shit that wasn't fit to be a member of this family."

"Travis, I suggest you deal with your wife before I show her who belongs here and who doesn't," Lily's voice carried an edge of danger.

The older man standing beside his wife quickly pulled her out of the room while Senator Ward and the other two people in the room, a petite and slender dark haired woman in her early forties and a young man that resembled Grant and the Senator, all went over to Ward. The woman touched him cautiously on the arm.

"Grant, ignore her. She hates Gramzy and is pouting about the fact that she has to come here."

"What is she doing here?"

Lily turned to face her furious nephew as Grant glared at Skye, who stood quietly by the door.

"I am assisting her on an important matter so she will be staying with me for the time being."

Grant, in a rare show of emotion, stormed out of the room and up the stairs, slamming the door to the bedroom he had used as a child. The other three Ward siblings faced their aunt and Skye; curious about whom this young woman was that had their brother so pissed off, at least until Lily told them her name.

"Louise, Christian, Thomas, this is Agent Skye of Shield. She will be staying with me while I help her out with an issue she is dealing with. I know some of you know about her ties to Grant and might have a reason to make things difficult for her. Just so you know, that if you do, you will deal with me because that is not how Ward's act. Now I am going to have a conversation with your brother so it would be greatly appreciated if one of you shows her to the bedroom closest to the kitchen."

Thomas stepped forward and smiled gently at Skye before motioning for her to follow him while Lily went upstairs. The other two followed them as they walked down a hallway and into an open door that was close to the kitchen, the door across from it was one of the three bathrooms that were in the house.

The bedroom had yellow walls and a window seat but most of the floor was taken up by a king sized four poster bed. The door to the closest was at the foot of the bed and there was also a small cherry stained dresser and matching chest of drawers.

"Thank you for showing me to my room."

"You're welcome," Thomas said. "Now do you want to explain to me why you shot my brother when his back was turned?"

Skye could see the looks of anger in the Ward siblings' eyes as they waited for her answer. She knew that there was no way out of this and that she had put herself in a situation where everybody was on Ward's side over hers.

"I did it to stop him from following me into the tunnels under the mansion. I had to stop a woman from starting something that would have been bad for a lot of people and I knew that Grant would have died in his effort to protect me. I couldn't take him in a fight and slowing him down was the best option."

"Well he is still recovering from where you tried to slow him down," Louise snapped back at her before storming out of the room.

"It seems I made a mistake coming here," Skye said, getting ready to leave the room and the house.

"Skye, our grandmother, with a lot of help from Louise and Lily took care of Grant and Tommy when they were little more than our mother did. They never forgave our parents or me for him being sent to military school and juvie. Of course, it didn't help that he was kidnapped at fifteen years old from the juvenile facility and we hadn't seen or heard from him until recently," Senator Ward said.

Skye stood there in shock as she took in what Christian had just told her. She had known about Garrett influencing Grant from the time he became his SO but what if the man had been the one who had kidnapped him as a teenager. What if the man's influence on Grant had ran deeper than everybody had originally thought.

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><p>Lily watched from the foot of the king sized bed as Grant unpacked his bag into the dresser and waited for him to speak. She was used to him freezing people out when he was a child and his mother had tormented him. It was his safe mode.<p>

"I can sit here all day long, Grant Douglas, so keep on pouting, I can wait you out."

"She shot me, Aunt Lily!"

"She saved your damn life, Grant!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Antoine Triplett is dead after he did exactly what she stopped you from doing when she shot you. He followed her into those tunnels and the obelisk turned him into stone and killed him. She is now a gifted and needs help controlling her powers. She has asked me to help her."

"Shield and Coulson aren't going to let her go that easily because they will want to keep her away from Hydra. She is a target now."

"You know this and I know this but do you honestly seeing Hydra attacking her while she is with me, Grant. You know what Louise and I are and what your duty is to making sure that the next generation happens."

"I will be a crappy father, Aunt Lily."

"No you won't but I can't make you believe that," she gently stated. "I have placed Skye in the bedroom closest to the kitchen. I will start on lunch for everybody while you go and see your grandmother. She is waiting for you."

Lily saw the tears forming in her nephew's eyes and walked over to hug him the way she had when he was a small child.

"She's really dying?"

"Yes. It could be any moment now and do you really want to spend what time she has left arguing about things that in the end aren't very important."

Lily stepped away from Grant and left the room, heading down the stairs and into the hall that leads to the kitchen. She passed Skye's bedroom just in time to hear Christian tell her about Grant being kidnapped at fifteen. The look on the young woman's face made a vision come to mind that had Lily gasping for breath. If it came true, what happened in the next few months could bring a power into their lives that would make her family at the heart of the battle between Shield and Hydra, both wanting to control it for their own reasons.

"Aunt Lily, are you okay?"

She came back to reality and smiled softly at Tommy, who was at her side, his dark eyes filled with concern.

"I'm fine. I am going to fix lunch for everybody while Grant visits your grandmother. Give them some time together. Why don't you and Christian show Skye the view from the decks and the shore?"

Tommy watched as his aunt went down the hall to the kitchen before turning to face his oldest brother, who was also concerned about his aunt.

The two men led Skye outside and showed her the decks before walking across the small yard, past the guest house and down the steps that led to the beach and the view of bright blue water of Sag Harbor Bay.

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><p>Grant stepped into the bedroom at the end of the hall and stopped short at the sight of his grandmother looking so frail. Her hair was now completely white and her alabaster skin was heavily wrinkled.<p>

"Gramzy," he said softly

Her lovely green eyes opened and Francesca Ward smiled lovingly at the grandson she hadn't seen since he was fourteen years old.

"Grant," she said, holding her hand for him to take it.

In that moment the tough specialist that could kill people with his bare hands became a little boy again, sobbing in his grandmother's arms as she held him. It led to him telling her everything that had happened to him since he had disappeared from juvie, including his own actions against people he cared about. It drained him to the point that he fell asleep beside his grandmother, who threw a blanket over him and let him get some much needed rest.

"It might be difficult and heartbreaking for you right now my sweet boy but things will turn out better for you and I don't need your aunt and sister's powers to know that."

She read a book, glancing over at him as he slept to make sure he was okay.

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><p>Later that night, Skye sat on Lily's right side at one end of the table with Tommy across from her while Louise sat beside her and Christian and his wife Anna on Tommy's other side. Travis, Grant's father sat on the other end of the table while his wife, Millicent sat beside him with an empty chair between her and Anna and two between Louise and her father. Grant's absence was felt as it seemed he was still with his grandmother.<p>

"Louise, was he still sleeping when you went to check on your grandmother?"

Louise turned to look at Lily and smiled softly.

"Yes. According to Gram, he told her everything and was so exhausted afterward, he fell asleep. She has said that he is to be left alone and to save him something to eat."

"I don't know why that worthless piece of shit is even here. I should have drowned him at birth," Milly snapped.

"Shut up!"

The sight of Tommy's face turning red as he yelled at his mother shocked his family. He was her favorite and normally didn't say a word when she started in on his other siblings.

"In fact, do all of us a favor and leave. It's not like you give a damn that Gram is dying."

Skye sat her fork down and stood up, turning to leave the dining room but not before looking at Grant's mother with a look of disdain.

"No wonder he never had a good thing to say about his mother. I don't know what is worse, the fact that my mother died when I was baby and growing up without one or having a hateful bitch like you for a mother. The only one at this table he talked about with any affection was Thomas and even then he regretted the way he allowed Christian to manipulate him into hurting him."

She was so wrapped up in telling off Millicent, Skye didn't notice the room starting to tremble and that every member of the family had to grab their dinner plates to keep them from sliding off of the table and hitting the floor.

Grant, who was standing out of the sight, watched and knew deep down that this was the power that Skye's father had told him would come about. He exchanged a look with his Aunt and they both knew that Hydra could never find out about her powers or Skye would suffer for it.

He followed her as she left the dining room to make sure she was okay but wasn't planning on getting anywhere close to her. Despite Lily telling him that Skye had shot him to save his life, Grant knew she hated him and that she had fallen off the pedestal he had put her up on. He loved her but knew that he had to let her go or he really would turn into a stalker that would do something even more stupid than he already had in trying to make her love him again, if she ever had.

Sometimes telling yourself something doesn't make a person listen to the voice of reason screaming for them not to do it.

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><p>Skye walked into the kitchen and out the back door, going down across the back yard, taking in the lights on the water.<p>

"You didn't need to do that because I know you hate me," Grant said quietly as he walked across the yard to where she was standing.

"You heard that?"

"I woke up five minutes ago and Gramzy was sleeping so I came downstairs in time to hear my mother's usual bullshit."

"Was she always like that when you were a kid?"

"Yes. The only thing she loves in this world is my family's money, her alcohol and Tommy; although now that Aunt Lily is in control of the first one, she doesn't spend as much of that as she used to."

"My father is completely batshit crazy but I have come to realize that my mother's murder and losing me did that to him. I could see in his eyes that he loves me. I don't know how you lived with parents like them."

"I had Gramzy, Aunt Lily and Louise but my mother made sure they stayed away as much as she could get away with. She especially took pleasure in sending Lou away when she was thirteen and came into her powers to keep her from standing up for all of us."

Skye touched him gently on the shoulder and could feel feelings she had pushed down with anger and hatred coming back to the surface. They kept getting closer together but before their lips could meet in a kiss, he turned and walked away from her.

"I can't do this. You made your point in San Juan and the next time you might actually kill me."

He walked over to the guest house and locked the door behind him. The sounds of him hitting a punching bag carried out to her.

"That was painful to witness," Louise said from where she was standing on the deck. "I thought you should know that my mother had decided that you will make the perfect wife for Tommy. Of course, you missed the fallout of him telling her that Grant is in love with you and he wouldn't do that to his brother. The best part was when he told her that he is gay and in love with one of the farmhands that works for Lily at her farm in Virginia."

The punching coming from the guest house stopped and the door opened to Grant stepping out, staring at his older sister in shock. The sight of which caused Skye to bust out laughing before walking back into the house to leave the siblings alone to talk.


	3. The Dress

The next morning, Skye woke up and it took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in her bunk at The Playground but in the Hamptons with Lily Ward and the rest of her family. She saw that it was five thirty in the morning and something made her get out of bed and look out the window.

The sight of Grant outside wearing nothing but a pair of sweat pants doing his daily workout starting with hand standing pushups stunned her to the point that she missed Christian's wife, Anna come walking up beside her.

"Okay, it has to be said, my brother-in-law is a fine piece of eye candy. I know he has done some shitty things but if he looked at me the way he does you, I would have already climbed him like a tree. But then again, I am not a cheating jackass like my husband is."

Skye turned to face the other woman in shock before turning back to the window just in time for Grant to go into regular pushups.

"Anna, do you know anything about him being kidnapped when he was fifteen?"

"His grandmother had been given custody and Lily was in the building to pick him up when all hell broke loose and he was taken out of there by an unknown man."

"So his parents weren't filing charges and Christian wasn't having him charged as an adult?"

"They were but after Francesca got through with telling them off, they changed their minds and they signed over custody to Lily. My mother-in-law wouldn't let her have Tommy and threatened to have a DNA test done to prove he wasn't my father-in-law's biological child to get her and Lily to back off. Then again, Tommy was her favorite and he wasn't in danger the way Grant was."

"Has anybody told him this? Grant has the right to know just how badly that son of a bitch lied to him."

"I suspect that Lily will talk to him about it. I think they want to focus on spending their last moments with Francesca and making them peaceful for her. Hopefully now that my mother-in-law has been sent back to Massachusetts, things will calm down."

"That's good because given the looks her children were giving her, there would have been bloodshed," Skye commented before shame came into her dark eyes and she started to quietly speak. "I have been so angry with him over his lies and said and done things just to be vindictive. What kind of person tells someone who tried commit suicide to that he should have run faster?"

"One who was really hurt by his lies and needed that anger to keep from falling apart," Anna said gently. "Although shooting him was taking things a bit too far and I don't think my sister-in-law is very happy with you."

Skye didn't say a word before going over to the dresser to find something to wear. Most of her wardrobe consisted of dark shirts and jeans and didn't feel appropriate for the company she was in. She walked over to the closet and pulled out something that she had brought with her on an impulse but didn't know how it would come across.

It was a dress that had been bought in one of the rare jealous moments she had allowed herself to feel over Ward choosing to sleep with May. She had gotten it into her head that if he saw her in it, he would end whatever he had going with May. Of course, she had never gotten the guts to wear it and forgot about it until she had looked in her closet before leaving the base and thought that having a dark dress might come in handy.

As she stood staring at the knee length, black cotton dress with a v neck and covered in small red flowers, Skye didn't notice that Louise and Lily had joined Anna in the room and all three women were standing around her, staring at the dress.

"That's lovely, why don't you wear that today? Do you have a pair of red flats to go with it?"

Skye turned to face Lily, who had asked the question and reached up to pull down the shoe box that she placed on the top shelf of the closet the night before.

"My friend Jemma, who was with me when I bought the dress, told me that I need a pair of shoes to go with it. She also suggested red flats."

"We can leave Travis to keep an eye on Mom while the four of us go shopping to find you some other clothing besides jeans and t-shirts. Besides I want to see my nephew lose his mind when he sees you in that dress," Lily said, smirking. "He needs to suffer for screwing around with Agent May while he was in love with you."

"How did you know that I had bought that dress with that intention in mind?"

"I sensed it when I saw you looking at it just now. Trust me, his teammates with benefits deal he had going with May would have ended the second he saw you in that dress. Hell, you could have talked him into turning his back on Garrett wearing that."

Lily took the dress off of the hanger and handed it to Skye, motioning her to go into the bathroom across the hall to change. She might want the two of them to leave each other alone, at least until things calmed down and Skye had better control over her powers but making Grant suffer a bit for how he treated that girl had its benefits. Besides two idiots in love and fighting it could be fun to watch, especially after the almost kiss that Louise had told her about the night before.

About five minutes had passed and the bathroom door opened and right as Skye stepped out into the hallway, Grant walked into the kitchen. He stopped short at the sight of the black dress that fit perfectly to all of the right places but was still modest enough to be decent. He quickly turned around and walked out the back door before he made a fool out of himself.

Skye had walked back into the bedroom, a feeling of satisfaction going through her at his response, ignoring the giggling of the three women with her. None of them noticed Travis step into the room, rolling his eyes at them.

"When all of you are done taking pleasure in tormenting my son, mom is awake and wants to talk to Skye."

Skye turned fearful eyes to Lily, who smiled in encouragement before handing her the shoes she had brought to wear with the dress and letting her put them on. Lily quickly helped her fix her hair into a braid before they left the room and to the foot of the stairs.

"She won't yell at you, sweetie. Grant must have told her you were here during his confession last night and she wants to meet the woman her grandson hurt so badly."

Skye reluctantly followed Lily up the stairs and down the hall to the last door on the right. She watched the other woman open the door and followed her inside. The sight of a lovely elderly woman with the most vivid colored emerald eyes she had ever seen lying in the bed, reading a book greeted her.

"Hello, my dear. Don't you look lovely?"

Skye sat down in the chair beside the bed and watched as Lily left the room, closing the door behind her. She waited for the older woman to speak again, feeling nerves start to take over.

"I'm not planning on yelling at you, Skye. My grandson did some rotten things and you should be pissed at him."

"Mrs. Ward…"

"Call me Francesca," Gramzy said, gently taking her hand. "Would Grant have died in that temple if he would have followed you?"

"Yes," Skye said, tearfully. "I watched my friend Trip die that day and the same thing would have happened to Grant."

"I am so sorry about your friend. It sounds like he meant a lot to you," the older woman said, placing a gentle hand on Skye's shoulder.

"He did. He was one of the truly good people left in this world and he didn't deserve to die like that."

"So you were trying to save my grandson from the same fate?"

"Yes, I knew that I would be okay because I could touch the obelisk. It wouldn't turn me to stone like it had done to everybody else that had touched it."

The two women sat and continued to have a quiet conversation, getting to know each other and talking about the one person that they had in common. Of course that meant Gramzy having Skye pull out old photo albums and proceed to show her embarrassing pictures of Grant that had the young hacker giggling.

* * *

><p>Simmons was in the lab when her phone beeped, indicating that she had a message. She picked up the phone and gasped at the pictures Skye had sent to her. They were of her and three other women, two of them brunettes that were obviously related to Ward. She was wearing expensive and attractive clothing that made her look different than who she normally was. The last one was of her with an elderly woman with striking green eyes, who could only be Ward's grandmother.<p>

She quickly left her lab and went to Melinda May's office, knocking on the door. When she was given permission to enter from the other woman, she silently showed her the pictures and waited for the response.

"I knew letting her leave with that woman was a bad idea," May stated, fighting to keep an unreadable expression on her face but failing at it.

"She looks happy."

"Jemma, they are turning her into a society woman that would be suitable to marry into their family and it will be over my dead body before that happens."

Jemma watched as May left her office and into Coulson's. She walked back to the lab and despite her own reservations at Skye being with the Ward family, the relaxed and happy look on her face in those pictures made her glad that somebody had found some peace.

"What's wrong, Jemma?"

She turned to face Bobbi and told her about the pictures that Skye had sent to her. How happy she looked and May's reaction to them.

"She is worried that Skye might not come back after Lily helps her control her power," Bobbi stated. "It also worries her that Skye is turning to another woman for advice and being a maternal figure to her. She's jealous."

"Could it be that simple?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if it was."

* * *

><p>Grant was out in the yard, making repairs to the guest house when he felt his father come walking up to him. He tensed, bracing himself for more of the abuse like he had received from his mother. Only to have Travis start to help him by holding the board he was nailing to the side of the house.<p>

"I sent your mother back to Massachusetts this morning. Lily laid down the law last night and told me that things had to change because it was time to bring this family back together," Travis stated nervously.

"You should have stood up to her when she treated her older three children like shit and was drinking every bottle of alcohol in the house," Grant harshly bit out before taking a deep breath to calm down. "I have no room to talk because I blindly followed a man that treated me just as badly as all of you. I lost the woman I love and hurt her and other people that I care about because of that blind loyalty."

"Son, I saw Skye's face when she told off your mother. She still cares about you because if she didn't, Skye wouldn't have bothered saying anything."

"That doesn't matter anymore; I have to let her go. If anything ever happens with us, she has to make the first move and given the fact that she hates me enough to shoot me, I don't see that happening."

"There was someone before your mother but I lost her in a car accident the night I proposed to her. Sometimes you can love someone with all of your heart and it still turn out badly. I can honestly say that I never loved your mother and given how much she cherishes Tommy, her heart was always with her high school sweetheart, the man I suspect is his biological father. We just made our children suffer because we had to put up appearances instead of doing what was best and filing for a divorce."

Father and son silently worked on the guest house, unaware of the fact that they were being watched by Francesca, who was standing in her bedroom window. She grabbed her chest and sat down in the chair beside her. Soon she would be with her Trevor again and hoped that her family would be okay and that all of the lies and pretending were over.


	4. Painful Confessions

Later that night, after a very tense dinner where Grant had sat across from Skye and talked to Tommy to avoid staring at her, he had quickly left the dining room as soon as everybody had finished eating to go and talk to his grandmother before he went to the guest house. He had moved his things down there to make it easier to avoid Skye and to not disturb the rest of his family when he came outside early in the morning to work out.

He was now sitting on the dark green couch that was in the middle of the small living room/kitchen area in the guest house, trying to read a book. All he could see in his head was the cream colored dress that Skye had been wearing. She had been even more beautiful wearing that than the black dress she had been wearing that morning and that one had him almost on his knees begging. He wouldn't put it past the women in his family to have helped her pick that dress with the purpose of making him suffer. It had definitely been very difficult to keep his focus on his brother and not the breathtaking woman sitting across from him. It had also tested his resolve and determination in letting her go.

A knock on the door made him put the book down on the couch, get up and walk over to open it to find Skye, still wearing the dress she had worn to dinner, standing there. He had heard all of the talk about Garrett kidnapping him and had a feeling that was why she was there. He really didn't want to have this conversation with her or anybody although he knew his aunt would get it out of him eventually.

"We need to talk," she said before walking past him and into the guest house.

"Come on in, Skye," he commented sarcastically before closing the door and quickly turning to face her. She rolled her eyes at his reaction.

"I don't even have a damn gun on me, Grant. Do you want to search me for one?"

"Not a chance. You might try to kick me in the balls," he said, rolling his eyes because there was no way in hell that he was letting himself touch her.

"Keep up with the attitude and I will attempt to do it anyway," she shot back at him hotly.

"Oh, we are going to talk about my attitude! How about your self-righteous, hypocritical, judgmental 'Shield can do no wrong' attitude? Which is total bullshit and you know it. A lot of my ops where people died were for Shield, not Hydra so you can sell that shit to somebody who doesn't know what complete crap it is. Your ledger isn't clean either or are you forgetting about Donnie Gill and the Hydra agents you killed with the obelisk?"

The sound of Skye slapping him carried across the room and as she went to hit him again, Grant grabbed her wrists and pulled her to him to stop her. All it did was bringing them in closer contact then they had been in a year and a blistering kiss exchanged that had him releasing her wrists and the two of them clinging to each other.

A few moments passed of light moans from both of them at being that close together in a year. That is until the feel of her hands reaching under his black t-shirt in an attempt to pull it off brought him back to reality. He pulled away from her and ran out the door, rushing past his Aunt Lily.

* * *

><p>Christian, Tommy, Louise and Lily stood on the deck listening to the argument taking place in the guest house and each of them cringed at every hateful word being said.<p>

"I might have to go down there and stop them if they get too loud," Lily said, shaking her head in dismay.

"Aunt Lily, things have suddenly become too quiet," Christian said, smirking devilishly. "They have either killed each other or are locked at the lips or worse."

"Oh shit!"

Lily rushed down the stairs and over to the guest house door, getting ready to knock when Grant came running out the door of the guest house as if the devil himself was chasing him and went towards the beach. Skye came out, with tears in her eyes. Her lips were swollen from the heated kiss she and Grant had just shared before he turned away from her and ran out.

"I'm sorry. I know you told me to stay away but I wanted to see if I could get him to tell me what happened to him in the five years he was missing," Skye quickly explained.

"Skye, I am the only one who can get through to him when he is being stubborn and closed off like that. I always have been. If I had got to him before John Garrett, he might have gotten the help he needed when he was a teenager and would be more open than he is now. I also think he knew what you were up to and started the argument to keep from talking about it."

Before Skye could respond, Travis stepped out onto the upper deck, fear and sorrow in his eyes.

"Everybody needs to get up here now."

"Have you called Dr. Franklin?"

"I am getting ready to now."

"Tommy, go and get Grant."

Tommy rushed off of the deck and down to the beach while everybody else, except Skye went into the house. She sat down on the lounge chair that was by the back door, feeling like an outsider during this family's time of grief.

A couple of minutes later, Grant rushed by her with Tommy right behind him, the latter stopped and spoke to Skye.

"Come and wait out in the hallway. He won't admit it but when Gram passes Grant will need you. Put aside your differences just long enough to get him through this."

Skye followed behind the two brothers and stood in the hall with Anna, waiting quietly as the sound of crying filtered out into the hallway. An older African American man in his fifties came up the stairs and into Gramzy's bedroom as Grant and his siblings came out of the bedroom, all of them in tears.

Christian was in his wife's arms while Louise comforted Thomas. Skye watched as Grant walked past her, the grief in his eyes causing her to follow him out of the house and back into the guest house.

What greeted her as she stepped in the doorway was the last thing Skye had expected; her former SO kneeling on the floor crying as if his heart was broken. She quickly rushed to his side and knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around him.

That was the sight that greeted Coulson and May as they walked past the guest house and looked into the open doorway. They had left the Playground as soon as May had shown him the pictures Skye had sent to Jemma with the intentions of bringing her back, whether she wanted to go with them or not. They also planned to arrest Grant and bring him back into Shield's custody, only to find Skye hugging him.

"Get away from him, Skye!"

Melinda was coming over to them with a pair of handcuffs in her hand when she went flying across the room and into the wall. Coulson turned his gun on Lily as she came across the yard and into the guest house, Louise right behind her.

"I suggest you put that gun down and get off of my property, the both of you are trespassing."

"He is a wanted fugitive and we are taking him into custody."

"Actually, he's not and you aren't taking him anywhere," Christian said as he stepped into the room. "He was transferred into his family's custody so you no longer have any say in what happens to him. After the fact he was kidnapped by John Garrett at fifteen years old was taken into account by the federal judge assigned to his case, Grant will be given house arrest for a year on our family's farm in Virginia. After that, it is up to the judge what happens next."

"That is complete bullshit." May said as she stood up from the floor. "He only gets house arrest for killing all of those people."

"How many people have you killed in the name of Shield or better yet for Director Coulson, Agent May?"

Louise's question stunned everybody in the room because except for a few comments to Skye over shooting Grant, she wasn't as confrontational as other members of her family.

"That was different."

"Why? He wasn't being the good guy when he was going to trade my nephew to Christian for a public trial and execution. All of it to make Shield legitimate in the eyes of the US government again," Lily stated, her arms crossing over her chest. "Oh and the added bonus of getting Grant away from Skye, does 'you'll never see her again', sound about right, Coulson?"

Skye felt guilt over her part in that and started to walk out of the guest house, taking Grant's hand and pulling him behind her. The earth trembled a bit as her emotions started to get the best of her.

"What the hell are you doing, Skye?"

She turned to face Agent May and Coulson, who had asked the question. The hurt in her eyes cut them both to the quick but they were doing what they thought was best for her.

"I didn't ask for the two of you to come here and 'rescue' me. I am a grown woman who made a decision to get help from someone that I knew could help me control my powers," she stated, feeling a wave of calm come over her that caused the trembling to stop that could have only come from the two witches in the room. "The two of you need to leave because this family is in mourning. What you saw just now was me comforting someone whose grandmother had just passed away; a woman that I only met briefly but had really liked. She was a sweet lady whose death should be mourned and not thrown to the wayside over stupid and petty bullshit."

Skye left the guest house, pulling a stunned Grant Ward behind her. He wanted to see what she would do next so he didn't try to pull away from her. He was even more shocked when they ended up in the room she was staying in and that she had locked the door.

"So I guess we are going to have to figure how to get along while I am staying with your Aunt," she said.

"I will stay out of your way, Skye. I am staying in the family cabin that is on the property and not the main house so we shouldn't have to see each other except when I am helping Tommy's boyfriend, Michael with what needs to be done around the farm."

"You don't have to do that," she said. "You promised to always tell me the truth. Tell me what Garrett did to you, make me understand why you followed him so blindly," Skye begged him as she sat down on her bed, motioning for him to sit beside her.

"Skye, what he did to me make me stronger."

"No, he didn't. You became his loyal soldier who turned his back on the people that cared for you. Fitz defended you until the moment you dropped that pod in the water."

"The fucking thing was supposed to float, Skye!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Garrett wanted Fitz and Simmons dead and I couldn't put a bullet in their head the way he ordered me to. I dropped the pod because I wanted to give them a chance and because it was supposed to float but then again when does anything turn out right for me. I almost killed them and Fitz will never be the same because of me. I have to live with that on my conscience for the rest of my life."

He took a deep breath before starting to speak again. The normally calm and collected Specialist hands were trembling and so she placed a hand on his.

"Fine, you want to know what happened after Garrett broke me out of juvie, I will tell you but be prepared because it isn't a happy story."

Skye sat there and listened to him describe in detail everything that happened in the missing five years of his life, tears falling from her eyes as he told her about Buddy and how Garrett killed him.

* * *

><p>Lily, who had been standing out in the hallway listening to every word, turned to a stunned Phil Coulson.<p>

"Please tell me that son of a bitch's death was painful"

"Not painful enough," Coulson said. "He could have told me all of this and things would have been different."

"You should have treated him a hell of a lot better than that regardless of the fact that he wouldn't talk. He is a human being who had rights. Did you know that Peggy Carter treated Daniel Whitehall a hell of a lot better than you did my nephew?"

"How did you know that?"

"You forget that I knew Nick Fury and consulted for Shield until a year before everything with Hydra happened. He allowed me to see those records. Here's something else that I know that you don't and you won't like it. Fury has been in contact with me and has been informed of some of the decisions you have been making. He made you Director because he hoped you would give Shield something that he didn't. He didn't want you to continue with the same bullshit that allowed Hydra to infiltrate in the first place."

"If he has a problem with it, why hasn't he said anything?"

"Maybe because he is trying to stay off the grid and calling you would make the wrong person figure out that he is still alive."

"I still think that Skye needs to come back with me and May. She doesn't need to be around your nephew."

"She is a grown woman and the two of you need to stop treating her like a child," Lily firmly stated. "I don't like how close she and Grant have gotten since I brought her here because neither one of them are ready for any type of relationship except friendship. That being said, none of us have the right to tell them what they can and can't do because they are both over the age of eighteen and what they do, mistake or not, is their business, not ours. Besides do you really want to try forcing her to leave and have her set off an earthquake that destroys this house and the others in the area? We are right on the shore of Sag Harbor Bay so an earthquake this close to the water is really not a good idea."

"Fine, we will go but I still don't like what is going on here," Coulson said, clearly disliking what she had just said but resigned to it.

"Phil, are you insane?"

Melinda May was furious at what was happening and not afraid to say so. She wanted the girl she loved like her own child away from these people, especially Grant Ward.

"Do you want to lose Skye entirely, Melinda?"

"No."

"Her powers have changed her and we have to accept them, even if it means that she has seemingly forgiven Ward."

"Neither one of them has completely forgiven the other for what they did to each other. The only thing that is happening is that she is being there for him during a very difficult time and he is accepting it, for now," Lily commented. "Now I need to get back to starting the process of burying my mother so the two of you need to leave and let my family grieve in private."

Lily walked away and back upstairs to her mother's room, while Coulson and May walked out of the house, reluctant to leave Skye there but unable to force her to leave.

"Phil, I don't like this. How can we trust that Lily Ward isn't a traitor like her nephew?"

"Melinda, I think you are jealous over how quickly Skye took to her and the seemingly maternal bond they have developed. We have to accept that while Skye thinks of us as paternal figures, the two of us aren't what she needs right now. Lily can help her and we have to let her."

"I'm not jealous," May muttered before she stormed towards the SUV they had taken from where they had landed the Bus at a small airfield two hours away.

Coulson didn't say a word because he knew saying the wrong thing would get him punched. He just followed her, looking back to see the Senator and his wife standing on the lower deck, comforting each other. It brought back memories of his own grandmother and how much her passing had devastated him. A wave of sympathy came over him for the entire family, even Grant as he got into the SUV.

* * *

><p>AN: There was a kiss but all it did was make things even more complicated between Skye and Ward. It isn't going to be an easy road for them in getting together especially when issues from the past will make Ward's life more interesting.<p>

Thank you to everybody that has read and reviewed this story, it has been heartwarming to read the responses to this story. I wasn't expecting them at all and wasn't sure how this story would come across when I first started writing it.


	5. Saying Goodbye

The day of his Gramzy's funeral, the last thing Grant Ward expected to see was the sight of Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons walking up to him outside of the church. The two agents who had been trying to catch him at the bus station that day and another African American man that was taller than even him were all with them.

"I'm sorry about your grandmother's passing," Jemma said.

Grant could see sympathy but also fear in her eyes and felt his heart sink because he knew that he wasn't forgiven but was glad to see Fitz and Simmons had come.

"Thank you, Jemma."

Things quickly got even more awkward as Skye walked over wearing a modest black dress and heels of the same color, her hair pulled into a neat bun on the back of her neck. She ignored Jemma, still angry about the fact that she had showed May the pictures and inadvertently caused the uproar that had taken place the night of Francesca's death.

"Lily sent me out here to get you because they are getting ready to start the service."

She slid her arm into Grant's and walked with him into the church. Fitz watched them before turning to Jemma stunned at what he had just seen.

"She is acting like she is a member of their family. In fact, Skye is acting like Ward's wife or something."

"Fitz, she has been around them for five days and has bonded with Lily. She is also in love with Ward but all of her anger at him made her forget that for a time," Jemma explained. "We might not like what is happening but she has to make her own choices."

"Ward didn't look too comfortable with her doing that so I don't think they are together," Bobbi commented before sliding her arm into Lance's and leading everybody inside the church.

They all sat down with Coulson and May a couple of rows back from the front, watching as the Ward family was escorted into the chapel. It shocked all of them at the sight of Skye sitting with Grant as if the man hadn't lied to and betrayed her.

"She is acting like a Stepford wife or something," May quietly commented to Coulson. "Something is wrong with her."

"Melinda, you are overreacting."

"No, I am not," she muttered to herself, continuing to watch as Skye talked quietly to Ward.

* * *

><p>Grant leaned over to whisper in Skye's ear as she sat beside him, his own confusion at her behavior making him say something.<p>

"What is wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?"

"I am being there for you as a friend because in the short time I knew your grandmother, I liked her and she loved you very much. We aren't a couple despite the kiss we shared that night. That might change while we are both at the farm, it might not but it is up to me and you, nobody else. It is time that Coulson, May, Simmons and Fitz get that through their heads. So this is me proving a point and being there for a friend."

Before Grant could respond, Lily walked up to the podium that was up above the pews by a small flight of stairs. She placed the notes for her speech on their and wiped a tear from her eye before starting to speak.

"My mother was my best friend and we had a bond that I never completely understood until a few years ago when I watched an episode of a favorite TV show. One of the characters had lost her sister and had described their relationship as being connected to an invisible tether and she could feel her no matter how far away they were from each other. That she now had a feeling of nothingness because everytime she reached out to that tether, her sister was no longer there. That is how I felt about my mother, we had an unbreakable bond that I always could count on and now she is gone. The only thing keeping me from wanting to crawl into a hole and die is the fact that my family needs me and my mother would come back and haunt me."

Skye felt tears fill her eyes at Lily's words and could see that Grant was fighting not to fall apart. It made her think of her own efforts to cut the ties she had formed with him after all hell had broken loose with Hydra. All of the anger and hatred that led to her shooting him hadn't been enough to break them completely.

"My mother was one of the most kind and caring people ever born on this planet. She tried to protect her grandchildren from an abusive situation and most of the time failed but she never stopped trying. When one of her grandsons was taken from her by a very evil man, she never forgot him and one of the last things she got to do before joining my father in the afterlife was reunite with her lost grandchild and be the comforting ear he needed. That was my mother, putting the needs of the people she loved over her own."

"One of my mother's favorite singers was Frank Sinatra and my brother and I have put together a tribute video for her to the song that she and my father danced to at their wedding."

Lily sat back down and a video started to play on the screen to Frank Sinatra's 'Always'. Images went across the screen of Francesca and her late husband at various moments of their life together before images of her with her children and grandchildren came over the screen, ones from when they were young and current ones taken on her final two days. There wasn't a dry eye in the church as the video finished playing, even the Shield agents who had never met Francesca Ward.

* * *

><p>An hour later, there was a gathering of friends and family at the Ward family's home in the Hampton's and Fitz took in his surroundings in awe.<p>

"Trip did say that the Ward family could be compared to the Kennedy's and he was right. This house is huge."

"Money doesn't buy happiness, Fitz," Jemma commented as she watched the Ward family wade through the crowd in the house, the only one missing was Grant.

She then looked out the window and saw him standing at the top of the steps that led down to the beach, staring out at the water. The sorrow in his eyes brought tears to her eyes because despite her anger at him, she could still feel sympathy for him at losing someone he loved.

Jemma saw Skye standing with Anna, the two of them having a quiet conversation. She walked over to her friend and stopped short at the anger that flared in the other woman's eyes when Skye saw her.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I didn't think May would react like that. I just wanted her to see how peaceful and relaxed you seemed."

"How about I leave the two of you alone to talk?"

Anna walked away and left Skye and Jemma by themselves, the tension between them so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"I know she thinks that Lily was trying to transform me into someone I'm not. I wanted to go shopping with them because all I had was t-shirts and jeans to wear. I needed more clothes and Lily offered to buy them. It was fun to go on a shopping trip and not have to worry about somebody following me so they could get closer to Shield."

"I regretted it the moment that I showed them to her. Bobbi told me that she thinks May is jealous of the bond you have quickly formed with Lily. She seems to be filling a role that May can't right now."

"I had a mother and Daniel Whitehall took her from me. Coulson did us all a favor when he killed that man. I have room in my heart for more than one maternal figure in my life just as my biological father fails to realize that I can have both him and Coulson and that is why I don't want him around me."

"You seem to have changed your mind on a lot of things, Skye."

"Watching someone you care about die in front of you does that. If I hadn't of run off the way I did, Trip wouldn't have been in that temple with me and he would still be alive. I have to live with that on my conscience," she commented. "Grant expressed the same regrets to me over you and Fitz."

"I don't want to talk about this, Skye."

"Jemma, was that pod supposed to float?"

"Yes."

"Would Ward have known it was supposed to float?"

"Yes. He paid attention to everything."

"That was his job as a specialist. So when he dropped that pod with the both of you in it, he could have thought it would float and that somebody would come along and rescue you. It was either that or John Garrett shoot all three of you in the head."

Jemma walked away without saying a word as Lily walked up to Skye after hearing the last part of their conversation.

"Did you think it would be that easy, Skye? I made an offer to Coulson that I would pay for a therapist to stay on base and be there to help his agents with any issues they might have. The judged ordered Grant to see one while he is on house arrest and would take into account their recommendation after the year was up.

"That will be a good thing for him."

"I think so and maybe you need to talk to someone too. You have been through a lot this year and maybe talking to someone who isn't tied to the whole thing will also help control your emotions and keep your powers under control too."

"What about Hydra? Do you worry about them coming after Grant or the both of us when we all leave here?"

"Skye, they tried to grab me one time and found out the hard way that my magic is very powerful. My farm has a very strong fence around it and with enough enchantments and spells to scare off Thor himself, I don't play around with my family's safety."

"Even with my own powers, you still freak me out when you talk about spells and enchantments."

Lily laughed before walking away, leaving Skye to wander outside and over to where Grant was still standing.

"I won't ask if you are okay."

"Thank you," he quietly commented before staring back at the water.

"Are you going to try to come back to Shield after the year is up?"

"No. I am going to help out on the farm and then find another way to take Hydra down. Kara is with your father right now because he is trying to find out how to get that mask off of her face."

"I don't know what I am going to do after Lily finishes helping me control my powers. She said that whatever I do is my choice and that nobody else can make it for me. I feel like I owe Coulson for giving me a purpose in life but after how he started to treat me after San Juan, I don't know what to do anymore," she said, ignoring the jealousy that washed over her when he mentioned Kara Palamas or Agent 33. She knew that he had left San Juan with her and had been helping the other woman find out who she was.

"Sounds like the same thing she said to me after I talked to her about the deal that the family lawyer made. She said that I have to stop living for everybody else and find something for myself," he commented. "Just so you know Kara and I aren't romantically involved. She has a girlfriend that she loves very much."

Before Skye could respond, an average looking woman with blond hair and as tall as Skye stepped into the back yard. With her was a teenage boy that was a dead ringer for pictures she had seen of Grant at fifteen years old. She glanced over at Grant and saw his eyes get wide at the sight of the boy and a look of recognition at the woman.

"Your aunt has been avoiding me for days but I knew I would find you at your grandmother's funeral. My name is Lisa Decker and this is my nephew, Kyle. I'm sure you remember his mother, my younger sister Tami. I would say by the look on your face, you have figured out that Kyle is your son."


	6. The Past Comes Back To Haunt Him

Grant faced down the blond in front of him and didn't back down from her glare. He knew exactly who her sister was and that if Kyle was his son, his family had never been told about the boy. That Lisa Decker had no right to act like the innocent victim.

"I should remember her because I lost my virginity to her right before I was sent to military school when I was fifteen. If Kyle is sixteen years old and the fact that he looks almost exactly like me when I was the same age, then the odds are pretty good that he is my child. My question is why am I just now finding out about him, Lisa?"

"Tami wouldn't tell us who his father was until right before she died when Kyle was five and she left him to me. I didn't tell your family because I was afraid they would take him from me. My job has transferred me to the London office and I can't take Kyle with me, so now it is your turn to take care of him."

Skye watched Kyle as all of this was going on and recognized the look his eyes. It was one of hurt because nobody seemed to want him and the person who had raised him was seemingly throwing him away. Her compassionate heart went out to him because she had been there after every foster family had sent here back to St. Agnes.

"Skye, take Kyle upstairs to the room that Grant was staying in before he moved to the guest house," Lily calmly stated but everybody could see that she was very pissed off. "Lisa, you can leave now. Our attorney's will have papers ready for you to sign in the morning giving me custody of Kyle."

The woman stomped off and left, not even bothering to say goodbye to her nephew. Lily walked over to hers and placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"If I would have known about him, he would have lived with me and mom. Your mother wouldn't have had any access to him."

"What do I do, Aunt Lily? There is a sixteen year old that is most and likely my son and I don't know what to do."

"Talk to him, Grant. Get to know him. He probably has some questions about you and I can see that you are curious about him."

"That's another thing. How do I explain my past to him? He will be ashamed of me before I can even get to know him."

"If he asks about your past, be honest with him. You know from personal experience what happens when you lie to someone you love, don't make the same mistake with him that you did with Skye and your former teammates. We will take him to the farm with us and he can stay with you in the cabin."

* * *

><p>Skye led Kyle up to the second floor and to the bedroom he would staying in, watching as the boy sat down on the bed, staring at the wall.<p>

"I have been where you are at, Kyle," Skye said, walking over to him.

"I don't want to talk about it," the boy sullenly said to her.

"That's another trait you share with your father," Skye said, sitting down beside him. "It used to take me being an annoying pain in the ass to get him to talk to me."

"She raised me and didn't even say goodbye, she just threw me away to live with a family that I don't know."

"It's royally fucked up, that's for sure."

Kyle grinned at that vulgar statement before turning to see Grant standing in the doorway, watching the two of them silently.

"I'm going to go downstairs and leave the two of you alone to talk," Skye said, getting up off of the bed and walking over to where Grant was still standing. "Go easy on him; he is just as scared as you are."

Grant watched her walk down the hall before stepping into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Did you know about me before today?"

"No. Your mother never tried to tell me and wouldn't have been able to find me if she had."

"Why?"

Grant sat down beside his son and told him everything from getting sent to military school to his own house arrest that would start as soon as all of them got to the farm in Virginia. The boy quietly took in his new found father's words before starting to speak.

"Do you regret any of the bad things you have done?"

"Yes, I do, especially the ones that caused pain to people that I really cared about, especially Skye, Fitz and Simmons."

"I can see why you are in love with Skye, she's hot."

Grant started to laugh at his son's words before calming down long enough to comment.

"Yes, she is but she also was one of the most compassionate and caring people I had ever met and a free spirit who saw things differently than I did at the time. I am partially responsible for killing that part of her and I have to live with that."

"I don't think it is completely gone, she just buried it to keep from getting hurt again."

Kyle's stomach started growl from hunger and Grant turned concerned eyes to him.

"How about we go downstairs and find you something to eat? Besides your aunts and uncles will want to officially meet you, just be careful around your Uncle Christian. Your grandfather is down there too but I don't know how he will act around you. This won't be an easy adjustment for either one of us and knowing my father, he will want a DNA test done to prove that you are mine but all I have to do is look at you to see it."

"Why?"

"You look exactly like I did at your age. I will show you some of your great grandmother's picture sometime."

They got up and walked downstairs, ignoring the blatant stares from the people who knew the family and Shield agents wondering who Kyle was.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, the house had emptied of its guests leaving the Ward family and the Shield team behind. Skye could see Kyle staring at the black Steinway baby grand piano sitting in the corner of the living room with longing.<p>

"Do you know how to play?"

"Yes. I have been taking lessons since I was five. Aunt Lisa paid for them because she said I had a gift. Do you think they would mind if I tried it out?"

"Show us what you can do, sweetie," Lily said gently as she walked up to her great nephew.

Kyle slowly got up and walked over to the piano, lifting the lid and sitting down on the black bench. He started a few warm up notes that quickly grabbed his new family's attention before he started to play the opening of Billy Joel's 'New York State Of Mind' and had now brought every eye in the room towards him.

A soulful baritone voice beyond his years started to come out of Kyle's mouth that had Grant watching the boy in shock and made all conversation in the room stop. By the time he had finished playing the last note, Kyle jumped in shock at the applause that greeted him.

"I think I know why Lisa left him like that," Grant quietly commented to his aunt and the others around him. "She can't afford the education he needs to enhance what he can already do with music."

"We'll make sure he gets it," Travis stated, shocking his sister and children. "That boy is a treasure that your mother would have destroyed if he had been with us."

"I wouldn't have let her hurt him the way she did your children," Lily fiercely stated.

"Mother is to be kept away from him, she lost any right to be a grandmother after the crap she pulled on us as kids," Grant said before walking over to where Skye, Jemma and Bobbi were surrounding Kyle, in awe of his talent. He didn't know what to say to this young man that was his son but thought about what he would have loved for his own father to have said to him.

"Great job, son."

"Thank you," Kyle responded shyly.

"Why did you call him son, Ward?"

Grant turned to face Coulson, who had asked the question, a look of confusion on his face.

"He is my son, Coulson. I was sixteen when he was born and his mother never told me about him before she died. His aunt told me today before leaving him with me. So if anything happens to him because anybody with a grudge wants to come after me, there will be hell to pay. I will make sure of it," Grant said before motioning for Kyle to follow him.

The boy followed his father out of the room and a shocked Philip Coulson turned to his team, especially Melinda May.

"Any ideas you had of trying to capture Grant Ward, despite his deal with the US Government is over. That boy will not get caught in the crossfire."

"Were you planning on breaking the law and basically kidnapping Grant back into Shield custody despite the deal his family worked out for him?"

Skye's voice was full of hurt and anger as she looked at her SO and the woman she had thought of as a mother.

"He doesn't deserve that deal and should be made to pay for his crimes."

"What gives you the right to set yourself up as judge and jury, May? I know that up until a week ago I had the same attitude you did until I found out just what he has dealt with in his life. That man didn't stand a chance in hell of stopping John Garrett from brainwashing him after that mother of his and Christian got done hollowing him out. He has made peace with Christian because he was treated the same way by his mother but I don't see him ever forgiving her. After seeing the horrible way she treats him, that woman is the one who deserves your anger. She set the whole thing in motion by being a miserable excuse of a human being who wanted to make her husband and children just as miserable as she is."

Skye stormed out of the parlor while Lily stood up, glaring at Agent May.

"I think your team needs to be made aware of a few things that have happened over the past few days."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"My nephew is no longer Shield's problem. The federal judge has put him under my custody on my family's farm in Virginia and he can't leave there for a year unless it is under an extreme emergency."

"Why was he only given house arrest?"

Lily turned to face Fitz, who had asked the question. She didn't see any anger just curiosity.

"Some new evidence has come up from his past that has made the judge have some sympathy for him. He also has to be back in the cabin that is a mile away from the main house by five o'clock every evening and up at five every morning to work ten hours a day on the farm. This will not be an easy sentence for him; he will work his ass off for the entire year."

"He deserves worse than that," Simmons muttered to herself.

"It isn't up to any of us what Grant deserves, the judge that his case was assigned to has made his decision and all of us have to live with it," Coulson said reluctantly.

The discussion continued on as various members of Coulson's team had questions while Skye watched Kyle and Grant toss a football around the backyard. The sound of the back door opening made her turn to see Tommy come out the backdoor. He was the only other member of the Ward family besides Lily and Grant that had stayed after the reception was over.

Louise had returned to Boston and her job as a therapist with a specialty in dealing with abused children. It seemed to fit given the abuse she had experienced as a child. Travis had left with Christian and Anna to head back to Washington DC to continue with helping get his eldest son's career back to what it was before.

"Your team members are giving Aunt Lily hell over Grant being given house arrest. Lily is handling them like a pro," he said. "As much as my mother favored me over my other siblings, I have hated her for a long time. I watched as she babied me while treating Lou, Christian and Grant like crap. You're right; the blame for this is at her feet. There is something else that Grant doesn't know about and he will be very hurt and pissed off when he finds out."

The two of them didn't hear Kyle and Grant come walking over to the deck just in time to hear the last part of Thomas had said.

"What am I going to be pissed off about?"

"Mom paid John Garrett five million dollars a year to take you from the juvenile facility and do what he wanted. As long as you were out of her way, she didn't care."

The sound of a fist hitting the outside of the house drew the attention of everybody in the house and made the three out on the deck with Grant gasp in shock. His fist was bloody as he pulled it back out the hole he had made in the siding.

* * *

><p>AN: The emotional hits just keep on coming for Ward. I am waiting for a review telling me to stop and that he has had enough, lol. Skye has her own issues too so that is why I am keeping them friends for now because they are going to need that friendship with each other more than a romance.<p>

I have some ideas for the relationship between Kyle and Ward because despite how they are getting along now, that will not always be the case. If anybody else has any ideas, let me know in a review or a private message.


	7. Revenge

AN: Thank you to Serenity Shadowstar for their help in the idea for and helping me write part of this chapter. A lot of this dialogue in the first part was theirs or inspired by what was sent by PM to me.

To the guest reviewer who had issues with my story once I brought Kyle in, I'm sorry that you feel that way. There is a purpose for bringing him into this story in that there is someone that Grant loves and wants to protect other than Skye. To show him that he can be a good father unlike what he told Lily in an earlier chapter.

* * *

><p>Grant felt the earth shake under his feet as soon as his fist came out of the side of the house and glanced over to see Skye clenching her fists and her dark eyes filled with rage. He rushed over to her side, holding her face gently in his hands so he could look into her eyes and get her to focus on him.<p>

"Skye, you need to calm down before you cause damage to the house and the others around us. It's okay, I am not surprised that my mother did this, Aunt Lily will handle her."

"No it's not okay, Ward! None of this is okay, not by a long shot. I am so sorry for how I have treated you this past year," she said, tears falling from her eyes.

Grant wiped a few of them with his thumb and felt a sense of dread go through him at the determination and fire in her chocolate colored eyes. He hadn't seen that since before she was shot. Skye was going to do something that could get her into a lot of trouble or get herself hurt or even killed in the process.

Before he could respond to that look in her eyes, Skye walked away from him and into the house, pulling her hair out of its bun as she went.

"Kyle, stay with your Uncle while I go find Aunt Lily. Maybe she can stop Skye from doing something stupid."

"Do you think she is going to go after Mom?"

"I know that is what she is going to do, Tommy."

Grant rushed into the house and found his Aunt walking away from the front door from where Coulson's team had left five minutes earlier.

"Skye has already gone out the door and is getting ready to take a cab to the airport," Lily said quietly.

"You just let her leave," Grant exclaimed. "She is going to get herself killed! We might not have the best relationship right now but I won't survive if anything happens to her, it nearly killed me the last time."

"Did Skye cause that earthquake," Kyle asked his father, in awe at what had just happened.

"Skye has a power that she hasn't learned to control yet. That is why she is with me and not Shield, Kyle. There are things you need to know about your own family history that I will tell you about after this is over. A lot her power is tied into her emotions and despite the anger and hurt that Skye and your father have towards each other right now, they love each other deeply. They have a lot of healing to do before anything other than friendship happens between them."

While Lily explained to Kyle what is going on, Grant ran out the front door to stop Skye from leaving and doing something that might get her severely injured or killed. She was getting into the cab and he rushed over to grab her arm.

"Skye, don't do this. Going after my mother isn't worth you getting hurt or killed over. Neither am I."

"She sold her own child and hurt so many people with her actions in the process. You may not think so but you are worth fighting for and she deserves this and more for the hell she put you and your family through," she leaned up and softly kissed him, caressing the scar on his wrist with her fingers. "Take care of Kyle; the two of you need each other. That boy has a gift that needs to be nurtured, make sure he does something with his music. I love you, Grant Ward. I was just so angry and hurt at what you did; it was easier to lie to myself than to admit it."

She pulled away from him and quickly got into the cab before Ward could stop her, closing the door behind her. He watched as the cab went down the road and turned back to see Lily, Kyle and Tommy watching from the doorway.

"What is going to happen to her, Aunt Lily," he asked, his voice shaking and his eyes wet with tears. The answer he might get to this question scared the hell out of him.

"There are three ways that this ends for her. One, she accomplishes what she is planning and nothing happens to her. Two, she does what she set out to do but drains so much of her power she falls into a coma. Or the last one, she also accomplishes making your mother pay but falls and is severely injured," Lily stated.

"I have to stop her! She can't do this because the guilt I feel about what happened to Fitz is nothing compared to how I will if she is hurt because of me."

"You can't help her. She has made her choice."

Grant's voice was bitter as he responded to his Aunt's comment. "What choice was that?"

"She did it for you, dad. I saw how she looks at you when she doesn't think anybody else is looking. She loves you and it hurt her just as much as it did you to find out what your mom had done."

"There is nothing that can be done to stop her. You just have to be there for her when she gets back here."

"If she comes back," Grant said before walking out of the house and towards the beach.

"Should we call Coulson and let him know what is going on," Tommy asked. "Maybe he can stop her."

"Coulson will lock her up for her 'protection'. So no, the less he knows about this the better."

The three of them went silent lost in their own thoughts as the stress of the day washed over them.

* * *

><p>Skye sat silently in the back of the cab, pushing buttons on her tablet to set up what she needed to take care of Millicent Ward without getting into trouble.<p>

Her guilt at how she had treated Ward and anger at herself, Shield and John Garret ran strong through her. That was nothing compared to the raw fury coursing through her veins as she thought about what Grant's mother had done to him. How she had sold her own child off to be abused and controlled by a sick piece of crap like John Garrett. She didn't deserve to live.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Skye stepped out of the car she had rented and started to walk a mile down the road towards the remote mansion Ward's parents were staying in. When she got a quarter of a mile away, she let herself feel the anger that she was feeling towards Millicent Ward and the earth started to tremble. The house in front of her started to shake and crumble to the ground as a woman's terrified screams shattered the quiet.<p>

A huge hole opened up in the ground and the pieces of brick and lumber fell into them as the screaming stopped. Skye felt her body start to get weaker and thought about getting back to Kyle and Grant and the shaking stopped. She caught her breath for a few moments before turning around and walking back towards the car.

As Skye got into the small sedan she had rented under a false id, she took a deep breath before texting Lily on her cell phone.

'_**It's done. I am on my way back.'**_

'_**Are you okay?'**_

'_**Yes. Tell him that I am staying in New London overnight and taking the ferry across in the morning.'**_

'_**Go to the airport, turn in your rental car and I will have a private jet bring you back here.'**_

'_**Ok.'**_

Skye started the car and drove south towards Boston. She went to the airport and found that Lily had already taken care of everything and she was led to the plane that was waiting for her almost instantly.

* * *

><p>Grant was standing on the upper deck of the main house, watching the moon shine down on the bay. His right hand wrapped in gauze from where he had punched the house.<p>

He knew that Skye was okay and that she was on her way back but until he saw her with his own eyes, the anxiety he felt wouldn't go away.

"The two of you have a lot to talk about once she gets back," Lily said as she joined him on the deck.

"I don't think either of us is ready for a relationship no matter what we said to each other earlier. Like I told dad the day Gramzy died, the first move is hers."

"I think she just made it, Grant."

Lily's cellphone rang and she groaned in irritation when Travis' picture showed up on the screen.

"I have a feeling he now knows what has happened tonight."

Grant didn't say a word; he just watched Lily answer the phone and heard his father's voice loud and clear.

"_**Milly's dead. A sink hole appeared under the house and it fell into it. She was crushed to death by the falling debris. We really should have had the structure of the house inspected before we bought it."**_

"Yes we should have," Lily commented with the same serious tone Travis had; only her eyes showed her true feelings about the death of her sister-in-law.

Lily walked away continuing to talk to Travis about what had happened that night while Grant followed her. He then checked on Kyle, who was playing with a laptop in his bedroom before leaving the house and walking into the guest house.

The sight of Skye standing in the middle of the small living area made him stop short and stare at her for a moment or two, before she moved into his arms being held against his chest tightly.

"Are you sure that you are okay?"

"I slept on the plane, I'm fine. She won't hurt you again, Grant. It's done."

"Skye, what if Coulson figures out it was you that did it? He could come here and take you back to the base in order to 'protect' you."

"He might and I will have plenty of people to back me up if he does. I love him like he was my father but I have to figure out what my next step is on my own. He also knows that Lily is the only one besides my father that can help with my powers and I don't want to deal with him right now."

He gently kissed her on the forehead before looking down into her eyes again. "I don't see Aunt Lily letting Coulson take you out of here either. You saw what happened the night Gramzy died. I still haven't figured out if it was Lily or Louise that cast the spell that threw May into that wall. It wasn't both or it would have knocked her out."

Skye yawned deeply as she was trying to respond to what he had said. "I don't think I got enough sleep on the plane. Can I stay here with you?"

"Skye…"

"I don't .want to be alone tonight and all I want right now is to sleep and for you to hold me. That is all. I know that we have to eventually talk about what happened by the cab but not right now"

"Okay."

Ward led her to the small bedroom where one corner of the room was completely with a king sized bed; a small dresser went along the wall across from the foot, with a door to the bathroom beside it. He opened the drawer and handed her one of his t-shirts and watched as she walked into the bathroom before he pulled off everything but a t-shirt and a pair of boxers. He slid into the bed, pulling the thin blanket over him and propped up against the pillows to read while waiting for her.

The door to the bathroom opened and Skye stepped out, the white t-shirt falling to mid-thigh and crawled up beside Grant. She lay down on the pillow beside his and started to fall asleep. He put his book down, turned off the lamp that was on the wall above him and moved down to where his head was lying on the pillow, letting her make the first move.

It was only a few seconds before she turned on her side and buried her face into his chest. Grant turned to face her and wrapped his arms around her, letting her relax against him. The warmth of her body helped him fall asleep too.

* * *

><p>Lily and Tommy were standing out on the deck, watching as the lights went out in the guest house. They were both worried about Grant and Skye and the fact that they were once again sharing a bed.<p>

"What did Dad say?"

"They are convinced that it was damage to the structure of the house and not caused by an earthquake. Who is going to believe that there was an earthquake in Boston, Massachusetts?"

"So Skye won't get into trouble?"

"Your father is going to make sure she doesn't. He likes Skye and thinks that once they get things worked out to where they can have a relationship that she is good for Grant and seems to already love Kyle."

"Has Louise been told what is going on?"

"Your father told her everything about the money and what Skye did. Her response was 'that she beat me to it'," Lily quietly said. "Does it say something bad about all of us that we aren't grieving for Milly and we didn't stop Skye from going after her?"

"It says that she burned her bridges with all of us and that she killed any affection that any of us had for her. The only thing that worries me is how this will eventually affect Skye. I know Grant has said that she has crossed people off for Shield but this was the first time she willingly used her powers to do it."

"You are a good man, Thomas Jacob," Lily said, hugging her youngest nephew. She didn't care if he wasn't related by blood because in every way that counted, this compassionate young man was her nephew. "Are you ready to see Michael when we get to the farm the day after tomorrow?"

Thomas blushed and walked into the house to get away from his Aunt's embarrassing question. Lily watched the moon over the water with a sense of longing for a romance of her own before walking into the house and locking the back door behind her.


	8. Life On The Farm

A week later, everybody had left the Hamptons and moved down to the Ward family farm that was north of the small town of Cana, Virginia. The largest city close by was a fifty minute drive into Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

It was on two hundred acres of land and had a hundred foot red brick wall that surrounded it. There was only one entrance onto the property and that was a wrought iron gate that could only be opened by a security guard that sat in a bullet proof booth outside of the gate.

There was a two mile driveway from the gate to the three story grey brick farm house. It had a wraparound porch and rocking chairs surrounding it. It had a family room that was beside the kitchen, a formal living and dining room, a study, a powder room, a full bathroom and two bedrooms on the lower floor for the house keeper, a Hispanic woman in her forties Adele and her fifteen year old daughter, Elena. The second floor had three bedrooms and individual bathroom in each one where Travis, Tommy and Louise stayed when they came for a visit and a master suite on the top floor for Lily.

There was a pool outside with a small pool house for changing clothes and not dragging water into the main house. The barns and stables where the animals were kept were a quarter of mile away and golf carts were used to travel between the buildings, if they didn't want to walk that far.

Two miles past the barns was a two story log cabin that had a huge wraparound porch with a view of a pond at the back of it. There were baskets of varying colors of pansies hanging from hooks that were in the top edge of the porch; their scent carrying into and out of the cabin.

Skye sat on the porch with her laptop; chatting with Jemma on Skype and listening to Kyle play the piano through the open window. For most of the day, Grant had been helping Tommy and his boyfriend Michael with the horses up in the stable; letting them out for exercise in the pasture and cleaning their stalls.

"Is that Kyle?"

"Yes. Lily drove down to Winston-Salem and bought him the same type of piano that he played in their Hamptons vacation home. Instead of putting it in the formal living room of the farmhouse, she had it put in the living room of the cabin so he could use it."

"Skye, are you living in the cabin with Ward and his son?"

Skye could hear the worry in her friend's voice and knew that she still had her issues with Ward despite everything that had been revealed about his past. Before she could even respond to her previous one, Jemma asked another question.

"Did you use your power to destroy the house his mother was in?"

"Jemma, I am not talking about that."

"Nobody is going to lock you up. Travis Ward came here and had it out with Coulson and surprisingly enough, your father; all three of them are protecting you. There is something else," she said, biting her lip nervously.

"What happened, Jemma?"

"Mr. Ward wanted to see Vault D and when he saw that Ward didn't have access to a bathroom down there, he went bloody crazy. I thought he was going to strangle Coulson for the inhumane conditions that he said Ward was kept in. Coulson is in spin mode right now because if Mr. Ward tells Senator Ward, all hell is going to break lose."

"My father and Coulson didn't get into a fight?"

"No. Your father was just as angry as Mr. Ward though. May tried to defend him and Mr. Ward told her that if she didn't stop, he would have her charged with using excessive force when she arrested Ward last year. That he had plenty of evidence to prove it."

"Lily's influence as the head of the family is already being felt. She told Mr. Ward that it was time to bring their family back together. Now that Grant's mother isn't around to cause trouble, it has been easier."

"Skye, do you feel bad for what you did to her?"

"A part of me does but then I think about all of the pain she caused," she commented quietly before noticing Grant walking towards the cabin and glanced at the time on her laptop. It was four forty five, fifteen minutes before Ward had to be inside the cabin. "I'll call you back tomorrow, Jemma."

Skye disconnected from Skype and waited until he got to where she was at on the porch. He sat down in a chair beside her, rubbing the sweat off of his face with his t-shirt before letting it drop back on his stomach. It was already starting to get hot and they were predicting an even more humid than usual summer for that part of the country. He grabbed a water bottle out of the small cooler sitting on the porch and had drunk half of the bottle before saying anything.

"I love working with the animals but even with my Specialist training and daily workouts that was exhausting."

"Are you going to be okay with not being able to leave this property for a year?"

"This is meant to be a punishment so I have to be okay with this. Working hard like this isn't new for me; my life wasn't easy out in the woods when I was a teenager. This is easy compared to that."

The music drifting through the window turned into Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and the both of them stopped talking. They let themselves listen to the haunting quality of the piece for a few moments.

"I heard you and Lily talking last night about Kyle's education and how your dad thinks he needs to go to a private school that has a better music program. In the end it is yours and Kyle's decision."

"I am not sending him away to go to school. I just found out about him and after he had to watch his Aunt walk away from him, I want him here with me. I am going to send him to the public school in the area and pay for him to have private music lessons," Ward firmly stated.

"I see you decided to take Adele's advice."

The housekeeper had been a great source of advice for Ward in dealing with a teenager and Kyle had struck up a friendship with Elena, a pretty but shy fifteen year old. It was cute to see them walking between the cabin and the main house, a barely five foot tall girl with cocoa colored skin, dark eyes and a skinny body and the almost six foot tall boy, who was developing some muscle helping out on the farm.

Grant smiled at the sight of Elena running down the driveway towards the cabin with her backpack on her shoulder and a Tupperware container in both hands. He grinned over at Skye, who returned it, both of them knowing about Kyle's crush on the young girl.

"Kyle, Elena's here."

The music stopped on the piano and the teenage boy quickly rushed out onto the porch. He rolled his eyes at the smirks on the faces of Skye and his father as they watched Elena step up onto the porch and hand the plate to Kyle.

"My mother made some lasagna for dinner tonight and asked me to bring some down here for all of you. She said that none of you eat like you should."

"Kyle, take that into the kitchen," Ward said before speaking to the young girl. "Tell your mother we said thank you."

"I will," she smiled shyly at him, blushing like crazy before Kyle came back out and the two teenagers ran up to the barn.

"I would say that a certain someone has a crush on both father and son," Skye commented, smirking wickedly.

"She will have to settle for the son because I think Kyle has a crush on her too."

Things got quiet between them as they stood up and walked around to the back part of the porch were they could look over the pond. She sat down in the one of the chairs back there and waited for him to speak.

"We need to talk about what happened the night my mother died. You told me you loved me but despite what Raina said in San Juan, I never said it back. I do love you, Skye but for now, I need to focus on taking care of my son and learning to deal with my house arrest."

"I agree. There are too many things that both of us need to focus on to give any type of relationship the time it needs."

"Did you really shoot me because you were trying to keep me from following you down in those tunnels or were there other reasons?"

"Ward, you were acting like a stalker and it was scary as hell. I was so full of anger at you and May and Coulson did everything to encourage it."

"My therapist told me that I transferred my loyalty to Garrett onto you and that even though the love I have for you is real, I handled it the wrong way," he explained, watching as a family of ducks floated across the pond.

"Did you ever have any feelings for May?"

"She was a mission, Skye. I cared about her as a friend and I'm not blind, she is a very beautiful woman but she wasn't the one I wanted in Dublin that night."

"I can see why Garrett wanted her distracted but couldn't you have come up with a better way than sleeping with her."

"She made the first move when she left the door to her room open and I went along with it because I thought that was what Garrett would have wanted me to do."

"Did you ever have second thoughts about following Garrett?"

"When he had you shot but the hold he had over me was too strong. I felt like I owed him everything only to find out that I was a payday for him and nothing more."

"You know where the money is, don't you?"

Grant turned to face Skye, who was smirking at him. He had promised not to lie to her again and he would keep it but still had reservations about telling anybody where Garrett's bank accounts were located. Well everybody except Lily and now Skye.

"Yes and I was going to tell Aunt Lily but as you remember I got distracted by you going after my mother and trying to stop you," he explained. "Garrett put one of my aliases that I use on his bank accounts. But until I get off house arrest, getting the money isn't happening."

"Unless we use a nanomask and send somebody else in there with your face."

"Not a chance in hell. I saw what that thing did to Kara when she fought with Agent May and it was stuck on her face. Your father had a time fixing the damage it caused."

"So you were my father and Kara for the past six months?"

"Yes. It took four months for me to heal from after you shot me."

Skye felt a wave of shame fill her as she thought about what she had done. She walked over to him and reached over to lift up the right side of his black t-shirt. Ward flinched when he realized what she was going to do.

"Skye…"

"I need to see what I did to you."

He reluctantly let her lift the shirt up and felt his heart stop at the tears that filled her eyes. She took in the places where the bullets she had fired entered his body and looked up into his amber eyes.

"As much as I want to say I'm sorry for what I did, I can't. You would be dead and Kyle wouldn't have you in his life."

They both suddenly became aware of how close they were together and he leaned down to kiss her. Their lips were almost touching when Lily came around the porch and started walking towards them.


	9. Unexpected Visitor

AN: The tide is getting ready to turn and now it is going to be Skye that will need Grant's support for a few chapters. Things will also start to heat up for them with their own feelings but I am still undecided on when I get them together. Agent 33 or Kara will make her first appearance in this chapter and you get a hint of the type of friendship she has with Ward and it is for pure comic relief. I am considering going up on the rating because some of the dialogue is going to get very graphic. Especially some of the things that Kara says to Ward and his response to them, especially the part at the very end.

* * *

><p>Skye groaned in irritation before she stepped away from Ward, who didn't look happy to see his Aunt either.<p>

"I would say that I am sorry for interrupting you but given the conversation I just overheard, I'm glad that I did," Lily said, grinning devilishly. "Skye, your father and Kara have arrived with Travis, Louise and Christian. Tommy is going to stay with Michael in his apartment above the barn so I am putting him in his room and I brought Kara down here to stay in the extra bedroom."

"That would be the better idea because I think there needs to be some distance between Skye and Cal for right now," Grant commented. "I think I will go in and talk to Kara."

Grant walked into the back door of the cabin as Skye sat down with her head in her hands. Lily sat down beside her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to deal with him if you don't want to. He came here with Travis because the two of them needed to discuss more ways to keep anybody from finding out what happened to Milly. I can be there to represent you and let you tell me what you want to do. You should have a say in what happens."

"No, I have to face him sometime. Thank you for offering though. I will most and likely need to use what you have already taught me in controlling my powers," Skye stated ruefully.

"I will tell them that we can wait until tomorrow morning to deal with this. That way everybody can have a good night's sleep," Lily said, getting up and starting to walk back around to the front of the house.

Skye followed her and watched as she got into the golf cart and drove it back to the main house. She went inside and glanced around the open kitchen/living and dining area before following the voices come from one of the two bedrooms on the ground floor.

When she saw Kara, Skye knew that her father had gotten her face pretty close to what she had originally looked like. She had seen the pictures in her Shield file and uncertainty filled her as she watched how close Ward and the other woman were.

"Skye, now that she has her own face back, I would like to introduce you to Kara Palamas."

Skye slowly walked into the room and shook the other woman's hand. They took measure of each other for a few seconds before pulling away.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you broke through the brainwashing that Whitehall put you through."

"I couldn't have done it without Grant and your father's help. Now what is this I hear about Grant having a sixteen year old son? I met him up at the main house and the last I saw he was having a conversation with Cal about classical composers."

The three of them stuck with the safer topic of Kyle instead of talking about the events of San Juan. Kyle then started to play a song for Kara on the piano while his dad and Skye worked on dinner.

* * *

><p>Up at the main house, Lily stepped into the study and closed the door behind her. She turned and faced her older brother and Cal, who were waiting for her.<p>

"Skye wants to be a part of any decisions made on how to keep her part in Milly's death a secret. She is staying in the cabin with Grant and Kyle so that gives her some space."

"She still doesn't want to see me?"

"No but then again she is trying to control her power and, despite the two of them telling themselves they aren't ready for a relationship, fighting reawakened feelings for Grant that finds them almost giving into them in a physical manner everytime they are alone together."

Both men shudder at her reference making Lily roll her eyes at her brother and Skye's father.

"Skye and Grant are adults and neither one of them are virgins. I will tell the two of you like I told Phil Coulson, as much as I think they shouldn't get involved with each other, at least for right now, they are adults. We don't get to tell them how they live their lives, mistake or not, their choices are their own."

"My wife would have liked you, Lily," Cal stated. "She would have felt the same way you do right now. I just wish Daisy would let me tell her more about her mother."

"Give her time, Cal. The two of you might have a chance in the future to have a conversation. Sometimes patience is a virtue," she stated. "Now, given that I have just read your mind Travis and saw the conditions Shield had my nephew in, what do you plan to do about it?"

"Coulson was trying to say that Grant tried to commit suicide three times and that is why they kept him like that."

"So they just patched him and put him right back in that cell after every attempt and didn't try to get him any therapy?"

"That was my take on the situation."

"Now like I said, what do you plan to do about the conditions they put your son in? You fucked up as a father for the first thirty two years of his life and I don't know why but he seems to be giving you another chance. I think you need to talk to him and get his opinion on what he wants to happen in regards to Shield."

"I agree. You could lose your son all over again if you go off on Shield and he doesn't want you to," Cal commented. "I found that out the hard way."

"I will talk to Grant in the morning after breakfast in the morning."

All of sudden all three of them felt the ground shake and Lily turned pale before running out of the room with Louise, who had come flying down the stairs, rushing out the door behind her. Christian and Tommy joined their father and Cal, who had left the study and watched as Lily and Louise got into a golf cart, with Lily behind the wheel. They took off towards the cabin as fast as they could.

"I would go down there and try to help but I think my presence would only upset Daisy even more," Cal commented sadly before going upstairs to the room he was staying in.

"Who's Daisy, dad?"

Travis turned to Tommy, who had asked the question.

"That is Skye's birth name."

"I wonder what she found out that caused her to make the ground shake," Christian stated.

"I hope she didn't find out that Hydra is after Grant,"

"What!"

Both men exclaimed before turning to their father for an explanation.

* * *

><p>A few minutes earlier, Kara was sitting and listening to Kyle play the piano while Skye was helping Ward heat up the lasagna and preparing a salad and garlic bread for their dinner. The other woman had got up and walked into the kitchen area and smiled softly at Grant.<p>

"Your son is very talented and has a gift."

"Yes he does and I will make sure he has the life I never got to have."

"Grant, are you worried about what will happen if Hydra ever finds out about Kyle? You know they have a price on your head after San Juan," Kara commented.

"They have a what!"

Grant cringed at the shrill tone in Skye's voice before scowling at Kara, who didn't look the least bit sorry for revealing that little tidbit of information.

"Thank you, Kara for telling her that. Now all hell is about to break loose."

The house started to shake on its foundation as Grant rushed over to take Skye into his arms, attempting to calm her down.

"Skye, do you see Hydra getting past the security measures that Aunt Lily has taken and the spells she cast on top of them? I need you to calm down," he said soothingly.

"Whoa! Is she doing that?"

"Yes she is, Kara. Take a wild guess as to who we have to thank for getting her that upset in the first place."

"I am so sorry; I just thought she needed to know about how Hydra was coming after you. I didn't mean to upset her that badly."

He didn't say a word to his friend before picking up Skye and taking her upstairs and into the master bedroom. He had to get her away from everybody and calm her down.

"Are they sharing a room, Kyle?"

"Yes. They think I don't know because she goes into her room at first but somehow she ends up with Dad before the night is over," Kyle answered her question before shuddering. "Thankfully they haven't done anything yet because I would have heard it if they had."

Kara grinned at the expression on his face and the typical teenage comment in regards to their parents and sex. She was getting ready to respond when Lily and Louise rushed into the cabin.

"Why did you tell her that, Kara?"

"I wasn't aware that she could create earthquakes and I thought she needed to know that Hydra was after Grant," She explained to Lily.

"Where are they?"

"He took her up to his room so he could calm her down."

Louise rolled her eyes at her nephew's words before a breathless moan came from the master bedroom. All four of the people in the lower level of the cabin took one look at each other before bolting out of the house. Until a second later when Kyle rushed back inside, turned the oven off and took the lasagna out of it, sitting it on the counter before leaving again.

* * *

><p>Skye let out another moan as another knot of tension was worked out of her shoulders by his hands. She looked up at Grant from where she was sitting on his bed.<p>

"You have magic hands."

"I could make a dirty comment to that but I won't."

Before Skye could respond, the front door slammed and both she and Ward went to the window, watching as Lily, Kyle, Kara and Louise all rushed into the golf cart before Kyle got out, came back into the cabin and was back outside in thirty seconds. They took off up to the main house leaving a hysterically laughing Skye and Ward behind them.

"They thought we were having sex up here."

"Your moans were pretty loud," Grant smirked devilishly at her.

They left his bedroom and went back to the kitchen to finish heating up dinner before starting to talk about Hydra and what it meant for Kyle's safety everytime he left the farm.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Kyle and Kara walked into the cabin, saw the lasagna pan covered with foil, as well as the garlic bread in its bowl and a note saying that the salad was in the refrigerator.<p>

"Hydra is really after my dad?"

"Yes. I have a feeling you or Skye won't be alone when you leave this farm until that situation is dealt with."

"I want to learn to defend myself. I don't want anything to do with the battle between Hydra and Shield but I need to know how to take care of myself if I get caught in the crossfire."

"Be in the barn at six in the morning and I will teach you myself," Grant said from where he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a pair of pajama pants and no shirt.

"When he says six, he means six or you get fifteen pushups for every minute you are late," Skye commented from where she has walked up and is standing beside him.

Kara started to giggle at the look Grant gave Skye for her comment. She had seen Grant's workout routine for herself once he started to really recover from being shot and the man didn't play around.

"Just for that, the two of you get to help me train him."

"Okay," Kara and Skye said at the same time.

"I don't mind helping out but when Ally gets here, I will be unavailable for a week," Kara said, wickedly smirking at Grant, who grinned at his friend.

"Who's Ally," Skye asked curious about why Grant would have such a shit eating grin on his face when Kara mentioned the other woman's name.

"Ally is Kara's girlfriend and hopefully they will get a hotel while she is here because I have been on the other side of the bedroom wall when they are together. Earplugs do not help at all, that is all I will say to that."

All four of them busted out laughing before going to bed for the night, Skye not even pretending to go to her own room and joining Grant in his.


	10. Grant's Decision

The next morning, when everybody was leaving the dining room in the main house after having breakfast, Grant followed his father, Cal, Lily, Kara and Skye into the study. He had a feeling it was what Skye had told him about the visit that their fathers had made to the Shield base. Glancing around at everybody in the room, Grant waited for what he knew was coming.

"I had a meeting with Coulson yesterday and he showed me the cell where you were kept. For all of the ways they claim to be the good guys, the conditions made some of the most horrible prisons in the federal prison system look humane. The only thing keeping the US Government from putting a price on their heads is because Christian is the only who knows what is going on. He will not be saying a word until you give us your decision on how you want to deal with it," Travis explained.

"Nothing is to happen to them. If I file charges then Skye will be arrested right along with Coulson and May. She knew and did nothing to stop it and I refuse to let that happen to her. I would rather be the bigger person and just move on with my life, raising my son, going to therapy and finishing out the rest of my sentence."

Skye breathed a sigh of relief at his words, she had played a part in what had been done to him and he could have easily had her put in jail along with Coulson and May. She also noticed that he didn't mention what had happened with Fitz. Grant was seemingly still protecting the one person that he had hurt the worst out of everybody despite the damage he had caused.

Lily exchanged a look with Skye and the two women knew exactly why Grant wasn't filing charges and all of it had to do with protecting Fitz, Simmons and Skye. He didn't have any compassion for Coulson or May but would keep them out of jail to keep the other three from being in trouble.

Grant left the study and went out to the barn to help Michael with what needed to be done that day while Skye walked by her father, not saying a word to him. She walked down to the cabin, leaving the golf cart behind.

Skye entered the cabin and walked into the bedroom that was supposed to be hers and grabbed her laptop, opening up a Skype session with Jemma.

"Is everything okay, Skye?"

Jemma sounded concerned after she saw that her friend was in heightened emotional state.

"Ward just told his father not to file any charges against Shield for the conditions he was kept in. He told them that he wanted to keep me from getting into trouble but I know that he is protecting Fitz too for turning off the oxygen in his cell."

"Skye…"

"He could have easily gotten his revenge for our actions against him but he didn't," Skye stated. "I don't know what to do, Jemma."

"Do you trust him not to hurt you again? You know my opinion on you letting yourself get close to him again but Lily Ward is right, this is your decision, nobody else's. I might not like it but I am your friend and I won't turn my back on you if you choose to be with him."

"She's right," Kara said as she walked into the room. She sat down on the bed beside the confused young woman.

"Hello, Dr. Simmons."

"Agent 33," Jemma inquired.

"You can call me Kara. Skye's father helped me get that mask off and get my face back the best he could. You can tell Agent May that she no longer has a look-a-like so she and Coulson can stop with their jokes."

"I will tell her," Jemma said before looking over her shoulder at a very irritated Melinda May. "I am so sorry for the phone call you are about to get, Skye."

Skye watched as Jemma quickly signed off of Skype before she turned to face a sympathetic Kara.

"I have a feeling as soon as she gets through fussing at Jemma; she will be calling you," she said quietly. "I know that you think of her like a mother but you have to live your life for yourself, not anybody else."

"I know that but Grant hurt a lot of people with his betrayal. I have started to let go off the anger and hurt I felt but the other four people that he hurt the most haven't yet."

"That is why he shouldn't have been in Shield's custody because all of you let that pain and anger do your thinking. I am pretty sure that things were done to him that none of you would have ever thought of doing to other prisoners."

Skye felt guilt fill her at Kara's words. She hadn't done anything to Ward personally except harsh words and helping Coulson deceive Ward in regards to Christian but she knew about May's 'interrogations'. Coulson had to have known that letting May interrogate him wasn't right but they all gave into the worst parts of themselves instead. They were all damn lucky that Grant wasn't filing charges of prisoner abuse.

"It's a wonder he doesn't hate me for how I let them treat him and felt so damn self-righteous because he was paying for what he did. Then to make matters worse, I shoot him and call him my enemy when he could have left me bound to that chair and risk Hydra finding me instead of Coulson."

"I don't think he truly hated you even through the worst of his anger over you shooting him. You made your point and he was ready to let you go. In fact, he had almost succeeded. He will be angry at me for telling you this but before he came here to say goodbye to his grandmother, there was someone he was seeing. She knew all about his past and didn't care. She was falling for the person she knew and not the things he had done, until she found about you and ended things between them the night before he left."

"Why?"

"It seems he called her you that night when they were in bed together and trust me; he didn't confuse her for you because Susan was a tiny, five foot tall, blue eyed blond. She wasn't his usual type at all."

"So he still loved me even when he tried moving on?"

"Yes he did."

"Susan didn't deserve what I put her through," Grant commented quietly from the door. "I loved her but she wasn't you."

Kara wordlessly left the room, giving her friend a comforting touch on his shoulder as she went.

Grant walked over and sat down beside Skye on the bed, reaching up to wipe a tear that was falling unchecked down her with his thumb.

"I only did that to keep you, Fitz and Simmons out of trouble because getting revenge on all of you would only keep the circle going. It needs to stop," he explained gently.

"I agree. Why do you let me sleep beside you at night when I know that you haven't completely forgiven me for shooting you?"

"You are not the only one that has nightmares over everything that has happened. Having you there keeps the demons at bay."

Skye's cellphone rang before she could respond and she groaned in irritation at the sight of Melinda's picture on her screen. She dreaded the coming confrontation and knew that there were going to be harsh words exchanged between her and the woman she loved like a mother.

"I have to take this or she will keep calling."

"I need to go back to helping Michael; one of the fences to the pasture close to the back wall needs repairing so we will be back there most of the day."

"Ok."

He stood up and left the room while Skye answered her still ringing phone and before she could answer May's voice came through the phone.

"Skye, the day you start a relationship with Grant Ward will be over my dead body."

"May, he is the only reason that all of us aren't being arrested right now for the conditions we kept him in for the past six months. He told his father not to do anything to any of us. He wants to just finish his sentence, raise his son and move on. After seeing for myself how his mother treated him, no wonder he was vulnerable to Garrett. The man kidnapped him, May and abandoned him alone in the woods for five years with only a dog for companionship. He fucking isolated him from everybody while messing with his mind in the process. Then the son of a bitch killed the dog when he took him to the Academy."

At May's silence, Skye came to a stunning realization and it made her sick.

"Did you already know all of this?"

"Skye, Coulson and I had heard the rumors but had no way of knowing if it was true or not. Ward had told us so many lies that we weren't sure if it was another one of his games."

Skye hung up the phone with tears in her eyes before leaving the cabin to find Kyle walking up to the cabin. The boy took one look at her, felt the ground slightly tremble around them and gave her a hug. It seemed to make her feel better and the mild shaking stopped.

"Aunt Lily told me that I should ask you if you wanted to go into town to the store with me. She said you needed to get away from here for a few hours," he said, pulling away from Skye to stand beside her. "She said we could take the Lexus."

Skye smiled at the sweetness of the teenage boy in front of her. His Aunt, despite how harshly she had left him, had done something right in raising him.

"Sure. We need to call your dad and let him know where we are going."

Kyle pulled the cellphone that Lily had bought for him out of his pocket and called Grant. He had a brief conversation with his father before hanging up.

"He said that we should be careful and that you needed to take a gun with you just in case Hydra has figured out where he is. He also said for you to remember what you have learned from both him and Agent May about being aware of everything around you."

Skye rolled her eyes because it sounded like something he would say before they walked back up the main house and the garage. They stepped in and walked over to the candy apple red Lexus ES 350 that was sitting there along with three other vehicles that were kept there.

It wasn't long before they had drove out of the garage, out of the main gate and were on Highway 52, taking the fifteen mile drive to the Wal-Mart in Mount Airy. They were walking around the store, looking at the video games in their locked displays.

"Are you thinking about getting some more games to play with your dad?"

"I was just getting an idea of what they had and there are a few good ones coming out this summer," he said.

"Was it your Aunt that taught you to be respectful of other people?"

"Yes. She was more like my mother than my own even when she was still alive. As much as I want to be mad at her for leaving me without saying goodbye, a part of me knows that she did it for me. She thinks that my father's family and their money can help me more than she can right now. What she doesn't understand is that I don't care about the money; I was happy living with her and would have loved living with her in London."

"I can understand that. I was sent from one foster home to another and I felt like nobody wanted me. Now I have a man that has been a father figure to me that I love and a biological father that I know loves me but he scares the hell out of me."

"Dr. Cal really does love you and besides you can have them both in your life. Just as you can have Aunt Lily, who I can see you have to come care about like another mother, and agent May. You don't have to choose. It is your life, not theirs."

"I think you are exactly what your dad needed right now."

The two of them left the video game section a few minutes later and that is when Skye noticed that they were being followed by two men. She figured out right away that they were Hydra.

"Kyle, text your dad and Aunt Lily to let them know that we are being followed," she whispered to the boy.

Skye and Kyle made it outside and to the car when all hell broke loose. The two men that were in the store and four others started to surround them.

She pulled out the gun that Ward had told her to bring and shot one of them in the chest when he tried to grab Kyle. She had just about gotten the six of them out of their way when she saw red dot appear on Kyle's chest.

Without any hesitation, Skye turned and grabbed Kyle to push him out of the way when a searing pain took over her body. She knew from experience after what Ian Quinn had done to her in Malta that she had been shot once again. The earth started to shake and tremble as the pain washed over her and the Hydra agents, along with the other innocent people shopping started to run in terror.

Kyle picked her up and put her in the passenger seat of the car after she had passed out and the shaking had stopped. He took the car keys and drove out of the parking lot and back towards the farm. He had only driven a few times with his Aunt after he turned sixteen and on the golf carts with Elena this past week so he was nervous. He also didn't have a license so there was very strong fear that he would be stopped by law enforcement.

As soon as he saw the main gate, it opened and the car rushed up the driveway as Grant, Lily and other members of the family waited outside. When Kyle opened the door, he screamed for his dad.

"Dad, Skye took two bullets to the back protecting me, she needs help!"

Grant rushed over and pulled Skye out of the car, not paying attention to her blood covering his clothes. He followed a frantic Cal into the house and put her on the kitchen table. Adele shoved Grant out of the room and went back to help Cal and Tommy, who was a surgeon. The latter was on his cell phone, talking frantically to 911 getting a helicopter sent to the farm to transport Skye to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the hospital where he worked as a surgical resident.

"I won't lose you the way I did your mother!"

"I've got this, Cal. You are too emotionally involved. I promise you that I will take care of her," Tommy gently but firmly stated to the other man.

Tommy watched as he left the room before continuing to everything he could to keep Skye alive. He turned to face Adele, who was putting pressure on the wounds.

"If she dies, Cal and Grant will both lose it."

"I know, Mr. Tommy. All we can do is pray and hope that the helicopter gets here and to the hospital in time to save her."

* * *

><p>Grant was in the barn, punching the bag as hard and fast as he could. The last he was like this was when he touched the berserker staff. All he could see was Skye covered in blood both of the times that she had been shot.<p>

"Dad, are you mad at me for Skye being shot instead of me?"

Kyle had tears in his eyes as he stood in the doorway of the barn. His son looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders and blaming himself for what had happened.

"No," Grant said, walking away from the punching bag and over to his son, hugging the boy to him. "This is was Hydra and when we find out where they are, they are going to pay for this."

Grant held a now sobbing Kyle and tried to comfort his son while fighting an internal battle of fear and fierce anger at the organization that had done nothing but ruin his life. If it weren't for the fact he would be breaking his house arrest, he would leave the farm and hunt Hydra down personally.

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you to Serenity Shadowstar for the inspiration for this chapter. I love the ideas you have for this story and appreciate all of the help you have given me.<p>

I wanted to focus on not only Grant's reaction to Skye being shot but also Cal's as well. Coulson and Shield will find out the next chapter and all hell will break loose.

A lot of the places mentioned in this story once they got to the farm are real life places in and around Cana, Virginia and over the state line in Mount Airy and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is home to me because I live to the south of Winston-Salem.


	11. Deja Vu

Phil Coulson was sitting at his desk, going over paperwork and ignoring a raging Melinda May. She had burst into his office thirty minutes ago complaining over the fact that Skye had hung up on her and hadn't stopped since. The normally calm and collected agent was emotionally upset and blaming Grant Ward for everything.

"I can't believe she has fallen for his lies, Phil. I don't care if she is a grown woman; we have to get her away from that damn family."

"Melinda, you know that what he told her isn't lies. Lily Ward has confirmed his story and showed me the paperwork from where she filed a missing person report. She has made her choice and no matter how much we hate it, we have to accept it."

Before Melinda could respond, the phone rang on Coulson's desk and he picked it up.

"Hello."

"_**Phil, you need to get to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center as quick as possible."**_

His heart filled with dread at Lily's words and he sat up quickly, gripping the phone tightly.

"What happened?"

"_**Skye took Kyle shopping and Hydra attacked them in an effort to get their hands on Kyle. She was shot twice in the back after pushing Kyle out of the path of a sniper."**_

"I knew she should have stayed the hell away from you! Once she recovers, I don't care what she says; I am bringing her back here."

"_**Phil, don't start. Blame Hydra for this and no one else. Oh and if you and Cal start another fight, I will finish it."**_

"Why is that psycho there?"

"_**That psycho is her father and if he wasn't here, she wouldn't be having surgery right now. He had to sign the consent forms for them to treat her."**_

"I better not see Ward there or I will kill him."

"_**He is back at the farm; you know he is under house arrest. But if the judge allows him to come here, you will not touch him and tell Agent May that she is to be on her best behavior. She will not attack Grant, Cal or even Kyle, who saved her life. If he hadn't of drove the car back to the house, Tommy wouldn't have been able to keep her alive long enough to get her to the hospital."**_

Phil angrily hung up the phone, feeling helpless and dreading the conversation that he was about to have with Melinda.

* * *

><p>Lily hung up her cellphone and groaned in irritation, wishing she could have avoided dealing with Phil Coulson. The only reason she had was because the man loved Skye like a daughter and she would want him there.<p>

"He gave you hell over her being hurt, didn't he?"

Cal sat down beside her in the waiting room, putting some space between them. She could feel his own worry and anger over what had happened to Skye and hoped that she really didn't have to stop a fight between him and Coulson.

"Yes and said that he was taking her back to Shield once she recovers, whether she wanted to go or not."

"Over my dead body," Cal hotly stated.

"I'm going to put security guards at her door. I will also call someone that can take on Agent May if it comes down to it."

"From what Kara told me about her, it would probably take Captain America himself to stop her."

Lily smiled at that comment before grabbing her cellphone, standing up and walking down the hallway. Cal had a point, to stop what was left of Shield from coming in and trying to take over she would have to show them just what she was capable of.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Grant and Kyle stepped out of the car in front of the hospital entrance and were walking when May, Coulson and the rest of the team got out the SUV. The former went over to try and punch Grant when her arm was gently grabbed and she turned to face a frowning Steve Rogers.<p>

"Not on my watch, Melinda."

"She called you in to guard Skye?"

"Me and Natasha," Steve responded to Coulson's question. "I would be careful around her if I was you, Phil. She wasn't very happy to hear that you were alive and that nobody had told her."

"Why would Aunt Lily call in Captain America and Black Widow?"

Steve turned to face a stunned Kyle and went over to shake the teenage boy's hand. He simply nodded at Ward, knowing about his betrayal to Shield but he also had been told of the circumstances behind it. He was staying neutral and doing a favor for someone who had helped him when he was first thawed out, not getting into the middle of battle between what remained of Shield and Grant Ward.

"She knew that certain people would act like adults around me and Natasha instead of acting like they can do whatever they please. From the way I understand it, Agent Skye's doctors and father are making the medical decisions on her care until she wakes up and after that, what happens is her choice, nobody else."

Everybody quietly went up in several elevators that were right inside the entrance to the fifth floor of Janeway Tower, one of the several towers in the still growing medical center. Ward got lucky and was in an elevator with Kyle and Steve Rogers and came out to find the rest of his family in a private waiting room.

"The judge said that you could come here and stay in a hotel until she is out of the hospital. After she is released, you have to go back to the farm. You are restricted to here and the Marriott where Aunt Lily has rented out the top floor," Christian quietly explained as the elevator door opened for May, Coulson, Simmons and Fitz, who all went into the waiting room as well. "We are here if any of them decides to show out to back you up."

"I can't believe Aunt Lily went there with Captain Rogers and Black Widow," Grant said, watching as May glared at his aunt, who grinned.

"I told you that I have my ways and not to play with me. I don't have to always use my magic to get things done and I am nothing like you have ever dealt with. I am not in awe of The Calvary and I never will be."

Before Melinda could respond, a tall woman in her early forties and wearing surgical scrubs stepped into the waiting room.

"Are all of you here for Skye Zabo?"

"I'm her father and everybody else is her family and friends," Cal stated, stepping forward.

"I'm Dr. Kristen Winfield and I was the surgeon who operated on Skye. Luckily the sniper who shot her didn't know what they were doing. The bullets missed her spinal cord and ever vital organ. The reason she bled so much was one of the bullets nicked her subclavian artery but not enough for her to bleed out before pressure was put on the wounds until she could get to the hospital."

"When can she be transported?"

As Cal and Grant started to respond to Coulson's question, the surgeon in front of them turned feisty.

"As long as she is my patient, Skye will not be moved until I say so and that won't happen until she is awake and stable. I have been informed by Dr. Ward and Ms. Romanoff about the situation with my patient and I am stating this now, Skye is the one I will listen to when it comes to her care and where she goes when she is released, nobody else," she fiercely stated before looking around the room. "She is in recovery and woke up briefly asking for someone named Grant. She should be in ICU in about ten minutes and I will allow him to see her and after that I will only allow two visitors at a time."

Dr. Winfield stepped out of the room and that is when all hell broke loose.

"Like hell do you get to go in there and see her before everybody else? This is your damn fault," May stated, glaring at Grant.

"Hydra would have been after Skye even if she hadn't of been with Kyle, they knew she was gifted and about who her mother was," Cal said. "I also suggest you cut it out because given the looks that Grant's family is giving you, his days of being your punching bag are over."

"It is only because of my son that you and Director Coulson aren't sitting in jail right now for abusing your prisoners. He has decided not to file charges and wants to move on with his life," Travis stated.

"That is why I wanted Shield exposed right along with Hydra," Steve Rogers commented. "The old way of doing things has to stop, Phil. That is how Hydra was able to infiltrate Shield the last time."

Steve walked out of the waiting room and past a frowning Natasha Romanoff, who motioned to Grant. The former specialist stepped outside and accepted the inevitable punch to the jaw he had been expecting.

"That is for the eye candy comment you made to Maria."

"I deserved that but then again, you know that Hill and I have never liked each other."

"Your aunt told us about the child abuse and being kidnapped after your own mother literally sold you to John Garrett. She also said you needed someone to get the money back to your family or you would have to wait to get it when your house arrest is over. I might have a solution."

"I'm listening."

Grant quietly listened to her solution while waiting for Skye to be placed in the ICU.

* * *

><p>All Skye could feel as she came out of the blackness she had fallen into was pain, agonizing pain. It centered in her back and radiated throughout her entire body. She could feel a hand holding hers and while it took everything inside of her to glance over, Skye could see Grant sitting in the chair, watching her silently.<p>

"Hi," she said, weakly. "How's Kyle?"

"He's fine. He drove the two of you back to the farm and Tommy kept you alive until we could get you to the hospital. Luckily, Cal was here to sign the consent forms or they would have treated you."

"Where am I?"

"Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem; Tommy works here and assisted in your surgery," he said, hesitating before speaking again and Skye picked up on it instantly.

"What's wrong?"

"Lily called Coulson and she had to get Captain America and Black Widow to watch over you to keep them from taking you out of the hospital."

Skye rolled her eyes and knew that her surrogate father and mother were going to raise hell at her. She didn't want to deal with it right now.

"I want to see them but tell them that they aren't to talk about me leaving this hospital with them. It's not happening. I am going back to the farm with you and Kyle."

"Skye…"

"No. No more of this waiting to get our lives together. I almost died again and I want to see where this goes with us if you do. I want to help you take care of Kyle. I might not be old enough to be his mom but I love him like he is mine. I want us to be a family."

He kissed her gently and laid his forehead against hers, caressing the side of her face.

"I want this, too. When I saw you covered in blood, it was like being in that basement in Malta all over again. I love you."

"I love you, too."

They shared another sweet and tender kiss before he stood up and started to walk over to the door.

"I want to see Kyle and my father before sending Coulson and May in here and then Fitz and Simmons before I see anybody else. Oh and tell Captain Rogers and Black Widow to stay because I would really love to meet them," Skye said, her inner fangirl coming out.

Grant grinned before leaving the room as Skye smiled before closing her eyes to rest for a few minutes.

* * *

><p>AN: I gave into my tenderhearted sap side at the end of this chapter. All I can say about the next chapter is that fireworks will go off when May and Coulson find out that Skye is staying with the Ward family and not coming back to Shield. I kind feel like, after reading previous chapters that I am bashing May and Coulson in this story and I was really trying to avoid that. I then realized for the story I wanted to tell of where Skye gets back to the person who made her own choices and wasn't the loyal and faithful soldier we have seen during the second season that I had to put a temporary wedge between her and her surrogate parents.<p>

That being said, she isn't going to jump into an instant father/daughter relationship with Cal either, who is going to have his own problems coming up soon. I am thinking of him starting to have feelings for Lily and fighting it every step of the way because of how his wife died.

Kyle will start to push his limits with Ward in an effort to see what he can and can't get away with. Skye will play a huge role in that as she tries to figure out how to be a mother to a sixteen year old that is only ten years younger than her.


	12. Lily's Power

A couple of days later, Kyle rolled his eyes at Simmons as she excitedly took in her surroundings. The two of them along with Fitz, Mack, Bobbi, Lance and Elena had gone to the popular Winston-Salem tourist attraction. It was a restored Moravian village that had been founded in the fourteen hundreds and the biochemist, along with Fitz had wanted to go.

The seven of them were walking in the main chapel of Home Moravian church where an old friend of Lily's worked. Tours weren't normally allowed inside of the church but when you were the grandson of a former Senator and the nephew of a current one, allowances were made.

"I know my Aunt asked the all of you to distract me but I am sixteen, not six," the teenager looked at the six foot four mechanic with irritation. "This is ridiculous."

"Look kid, I agree with you but while Hydra wants you as a way to get back at your dad, you are stuck with bodyguards. Everybody is already angry about Skye being hurt but all hell will break loose if anything happens to you," Mack explained to the almost six foot tall teenager. "Besides they could have sent you with Captain Rogers and Black Widow."

Kyle shuddered at that implication because while it had been cool to meet the two Avengers, he knew that any anonymity would be gone at their presence.

He then saw the old piano standing along the wall and his heart stopped at the sight of it. He wouldn't be allowed to play it but he could admire the craftsman ship and the beauty of the old instrument.

"I don't think they will allow you to play that, Kyle," Elena commented as she walked up beside him. "That thing is an antique."

"I know. That is what makes it so awesome. Someone bought that piano when it was first built and sat down in front of it, anticipating what they would play first. Now it is sitting here in this church for its members and others to enjoy it."

Elena stared awestruck at Kyle before wrapping her around his and leading him over to another part of the church, the sixteen year old grinning and letting her.

"I hope Ward knows what a pleasure that boy is to be around," Simmons commented to Bobbi quietly.

"Jemma, this is the grace period. Sweet and innocent Kyle and Elena are about to give his father and her mother some grey hair because when two teenagers look at each other like that, all hell is about to break loose," Bobbi stated smiling at Lance, who was smirking as he watched the two teenagers talking to each other and ignoring everybody else.

* * *

><p>At the same time over at the hospital, Skye has been placed in a regular room and she was quietly talking to Lily. They both looked over at Grant, who was lying on a cot sleeping with a thin blanket tossed over him.<p>

"He hasn't left this hospital since he got here. If Kyle had of been with anybody but members of Shield, I would have sent Grant with him."

"Not a chance," Grant responded to his Aunt, his eyes still closed. "I'm not leaving this hospital until Skye is released."

He had taken it upon himself to stay with Skye at all times, knowing that his skills as a specialist would come in handy.

"Some people would say that you are being a stalker again," May commented harshly from the doorway.

"Some people need to mind their own business," Skye stated to her. She still wasn't happy with her surrogate mother. Now that she realized just how bad her own hypocrisy had been, seeing it in others pissed her off.

"Let's go get a cup of coffee, Agent May," Lily said, getting up and walking towards the other woman. She closed the door behind her, shutting both her and the other woman out in the hallway.

"You have to back off, Melinda. She loves you like a mother but her disappointment in you is doing the thinking for her. If you keep up the attitude, you will lose her and I know for a fact that is the last thing you or Skye want. She has chosen to be with Grant and even though I think it is too soon, nobody is going to change her mind. She wants to be a family with him and Kyle."

"Would she still feel that way if Ward had never found out about Kyle?"

"Yes. Her feelings for Grant have nothing to do with hers for his son. In all fairness, you can blame Hydra for this. If they hadn't tried to kidnap Kyle, the two of them would probably still be fighting their feelings for each other," Lily then grinned mischievously. "There is a silver lining to all of this."

"What does that mean?"

"Kyle is slowly but surely realizing that he doesn't have to be on his best behavior all of the time, that he won't be abandoned again. Skye has decided she wants to help raise him so just imagine how much he will drive both her and Grant crazy with some of the stuff he does to test their limits. I am picturing him and Elena giving Grant and Adele both a fit if they ever start to date."

A small smile comes over Agent May's face as she thinks about it before both women started to hysterically laugh. They were both wiping tears from their eyes as Coulson and Cal both came walking up to the women from opposite directions.

"What's going on?"

Melinda explained to the two men why she and Lily were laughing and Phil realized that Lily had a point. He knew that Skye was stubborn as hell and that she would push him away just like she was Melinda but accepting Ward back into her life grated at him.

"Coulson, the same advice I just gave Melinda goes for you too."

"He kidnapped her twice, Lily."

"And she made him pay for it both times."

"And you people call me crazy," Cal said, walking into Skye's room only to come rushing back out. "That isn't what I wanted to see when I went in to check on my daughter."

Coulson, May and Lily walked into the doorway and found Ward lying beside Skye in her bed and the two of them lost in a passionate kiss. All three of them rolled their eyes before Lily stepped into the room.

"The last thing Skye needs is one of her doctors coming in here because her heart monitor is going crazy."

Grant and Skye grinned at Lily, not the least bit embarrassed for being caught kissing. He stood up and kissed her on the lips.

"I'll be back. I have to talk to Romanoff and Captain Rogers about her plan for getting my family's money back to them."

He left the room and Skye found herself being stared at by her father and the other three adults in the room.

"He is getting help from Romanoff about getting the money out of Garrett's accounts?"

Skye nodded her head in response to Coulson's question. She grinned at the look of dread that came into his eyes.

"The two of them both had the top scores in espionage. Let's hope they don't cause an international incident."

"That is why Captain Rogers is helping them, to keep them out of trouble."

"He might be the only one who can but I have my doubts. Steve Rogers has a penchant for doing things against orders too. Going after Bucky Barnes when he was captured during the war comes to mind," Lily commented. "At least Grant will be back on the farm here in a few days when they let Skye out of the hospital."

* * *

><p>Kyle came into Skye's room a few hours later, holding a tin in his hands before groaning at the sight of his dad and Skye once again kissing.<p>

"Is this what I am going to see every day once Skye is released from the hospital?"

"Yes, get over it," Grant snarked back at him before smiling at the boy. "Did Simmons and Fitz drive the rest of you crazy?"

"Yes. She bounced all around the whole village; excited for everything, especially when we got to watch them prepare and bake a batch of Moravian cookies in that old fashioned oven at the Bakery. I brought something back that I thought Skye would like."

Kyle handed her the decorative tin and watched as she opened it and squealed like a little girl at the sight of chocolate and peanut butter fudge.

"You better enjoy that because once the doctor says you can, it is back to your training," Grant commented, smiling at the delight she took in eating a piece of the candy.

"I plan on it. I think the two of us and Kara need to double our efforts to make sure that Kyle can take care of himself. I also think that we need to talk to Adele about teaching Elena."

Kyle smiled at the banter between his dad and Skye and was glad that they had finally made the decision to be together. It was driving everybody else crazy. He knew that Aunt Lily, Mr. Cal and the members of Shield, especially the four his dad had betrayed, had their reasons for not wanting them to be together.

The three of them sat together, laughing and talking, unaware of the fact that Fitz was watching with anger growing in his eyes. He felt betrayed by Skye for giving Ward another chance after what he had done to him.

It was only Kyle that kept Fitz from going in there and confronting her, the boy didn't deserve to hear every horrible thing his father had done.

"Grant has already told Kyle everything, Fitz," Lily said quietly from where she was standing beside him. "You have every right to be angry at Grant. What he did to you and Agent Simmons was stupid and dangerous. In his effort to give you a chance to survive, he still hurt you in the process"

Lily touched him on the arm and an electric shock went through both Lily and Fitz that made the older woman scream as they both fell to the floor. It was one of agony that brought Grant running out of Skye's room. The sight of his aunt and Fitz lying on the ground terrified him.

"Kyle, push the button for the nurse."

Fitz sat up, holding his head as Lily laid there on the floor, not moving and pale as a sheet. Grant fought the urge to touch his former friend on the shoulder.

"Fitz, what happened?"

"She touched me on the shoulder and the next thing an electric shock went through the both of us, she was screaming and we both fell to the floor. Is she okay?"

"I don't know, Fitz," Grant stated before looking at Fitz in shock. "You aren't stuttering and your hand is better. I think I know what happened. Her power healed you but at what cost to her."

Both men watched as the doctors and nurses rushed towards Lily as the other members of the Ward family, Cal and the other members of Shield watched in horror.

"I didn't want this to happen like this, Ward. She has to be okay," Fitz whispered in fear as he threw his arms around the man that had betrayed him.

Ward hugged him back, ignoring the gasps of shock coming from the others around him. They didn't know what was going on here but it had to have been big for Fitz to hug Ward like that.


	13. Revelations and Heartbreak

AN: I apologize for this but after working hard on the last chapter, to only get one review made me feel awful. I have seen people do the thing where they say they won't update until they get so many reviews and I promise that I will never do that. I don't like forcing people to give reviews but it is disappointing to put a lot of thought into a chapter and get only one review.

Thank you to EmmaJMcGhee for your review and your concern for Lily. Your question will be answered in this chapter.

This chapter will give a bit of development on Louise, Ward's sister. She is the only one who can answer questions about what happened to Lily because she is also a witch. Fitz will also be affected by what happened at the end of the last chapter and it will be explained in this chapter too.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Travis sat in a chair at his sister's bedside watching her sleep. He was holding her hand and memories of holding her on the day she was born went through his mind.<p>

He had been nineteen when his parents had told him that they were having another baby and his reaction had been less than favorable. That is, until he held that tiny baby in his arms and she had him wrapped around her finger.

Of course, when he had sat back and allowed Milly to abuse his older three children had taken a lot of the hero worship out of his baby sister's eyes. Everything with Grant only made it worse. Lily had been furious with him for years. They had only recently started to heal the damage that had been done after the death of their mother and finding out that Milly had sold Grant to John Garrett.

"How is she doing, Mr. Ward?"

Travis turned to see Leo Fitz standing there, unable to take his eyes off of Lily.

"She will be okay, Fitz. Whatever happened took a lot out of her and she needs to rest. How are you doing?"

Jemma and Tommy had both taken Fitz down to the Emergency Room where tests had been run on his brain and hand. When he had come back with a clean bill of health and it appeared as if there hadn't been any brain damage was when Louise realized what had happened.

"How about we go and see what Louise has to say about what happened maybe that will ease your mind, son?"

Travis led the quiet young scientist down the hall to one of the conference rooms. Everybody wanted to know what had happened and that was the only place big enough to fit a group of people.

* * *

><p>In the conference room, Louise sat at the head of the table, watching as the rest of her family and the Shield team start to come into the room. She smiled as Grant pushed Skye, sitting in a wheel chair into the room and placing her beside Louise while he sat down in the chair beside her.<p>

There had been a ten minute argument where for once the people who cared about Skye actually agreed on something. They thought she should stay in her hospital bed and let them tell her what happens. It seems Skye won.

Nerves filled Louise as she thought about what she was about to say. She had never been as comfortable with her magic the way her aunt had been. They had developed their powers within two years of each other because of the same age difference between them. Lily had been more like her sister than an aunt, the same thing with Christian who was five years younger than Louise. It was only with Grant and Tommy that Lily was able to be an actual Aunt to them and take care of them, well as much as that rabid bitch that was her mother would let them.

She ran her fingers through her thick dark hair and felt a comforting hand on hers. Louise smiled over at her little brother and despite the fact he was now thirty two and a father, all she saw in her mind was the adorable infant she had first held at ten years old. Grant had been her little shadow for three years until that damn mother of hers had sent her to boarding school, right around the same time that her powers kicked in. The laughing and happy child she had left that August was gone by the time the holidays came around. Her sweet little shadow now had them in his eyes from the tortures his mother had started to put him through.

Before Louise could start the meeting, the sight of Fitz sitting between Grant and Mack made her wonder what was going on? She noticed Jemma Simmons glaring at Grant and knew that the death threat that the younger woman had said to Grant was going to have to be addressed. It was time that certain people at Shield knew that Lily wasn't the only one who would now fight for her brother.

The conditions of the cell they had put her brother in, after seeing it in her father's head, pissed Louise off and she would now fight for Grant in a way that she couldn't when she was younger. The only thing keeping her from going after Skye was the fact that her brother was the happiest he had ever been at being with her, the love she had for Kyle and the fact that Louise could sense the remorse Skye felt for her part in everything.

"I think everybody knows why we are here," she started to speak as every conversation in the room stopped. "What happened to Lily and Fitz when she touched his shoulder was called the 'healing touch'. It can't be controlled and when it happens it is because the powers that be have decided that the person in need of it was pure of heart. The only consequence is the effect it has on the witch that was used to deliver the 'gift' to the one deemed worthy. It will significantly drain her magical core to the point she needs to rest long enough for the core to recover. It takes a lot of the witches power and energy for it to work."

Louise turned to face a guilt-ridden Fitz and reached over to hold his hand.

"This isn't your fault and she will be okay in a week. You have been given everything back that was taken from you because of the actions of others. Someone up there thinks that your gifts are needed in the war that is coming. Something is coming that Hydra will want badly and Shield will do anything to protect it."

"Do you have any idea what it is?"

Louise looked over at Coulson, who had asked the question, and tried to find the right way to say it without giving away what it was. The only person besides Louise that knew was unconscious and that was the way it needed to be for a while.

"No. It is just a vision of a battle over whatever this is and lives being lost on both sides of the battle."

Everybody got up and left the room, well except for Cal who walked over to Louise, a knowing look on his face.

"It's a baby. My Daisy is meant to be the mother of the baby girl that will carry on your family's 'gift'. So with Daisy's power and given how powerful you and your aunt are, that baby will be what Hydra wants and because she is Daisy' child, Shield will protect her with everything inside of them."

Louise made sure that no one had heard what Cal had said and nodded her head in acknowledgment of his words.

"I know that Skye has to recover from being shot but now that they aren't fighting their feelings for each other, the visions have gotten stronger. All of us that love Skye and Grant are needed to protect that baby and Mr. Fitz is going to play a big part in that. That is why he was given everything he lost back to him."

Cal and Louise walked out of the room and went towards Lily's hospital room unaware of a sixteen year old boy listening to every word. His eyes were filled with anger and a resolve beyond his years.

'It is time to have a conversation with Aunt Lisa and find out if this is why I had to be with my father's family.'

Kyle walked down the hall and pulled out his cellphone, waiting for his aunt to answer.

"Tell me the truth, Aunt Lisa. You are a witch like my Aunts Lily and Louise, aren't you?"

Kyle listened to his aunt's words and a rage built inside of him at the lies the one person he had trusted in his life as he finally was told the truth. He then walked down the hall to where his father was having a conversation with Skye as he helped her back into her bed.

"I need to tell you something, Dad."

"What's wrong, Kyle?"

Kyle could hear the concern in Skye's voice and looked at the both of them, worry in his eyes that they would reject him.

"Aunt Lisa is a witch and she left me with you for a reason that wasn't the one she told everybody."

"What the hell!"

"It seems that my mother's family is related to the witch that put the curse on the Ward's. Their goal was to send me here to learn how to fight from you to help in the battle that is to come and to protect my baby sister when she is born."

Skye and Grant exchange a look where it is obvious they know exactly what is happening before the former started to speak.

"That is why when Lily told us that you were meant to be the father of the next generation witch, the thought of anybody but me having that baby pissed me off. I was still mad as hell at you but wanted to rip the hair out of any other woman that dared to have your child."

"The question is do we tell Lily and Louise that we know what their secret is," Grant inquired.

"We will when Lily wakes up because you can't keep a secret from her and making sure she recovers is the most important thing. Now we know why Fitz was granted that gift but what will it cost him to be healed the way he was."

Grant and Kyle went silent at Skye's words and they each knew deep down what that cost could be.

* * *

><p>Fitz and Mack were walking down the hall towards Skye's room when he was stopped by a furious Jemma Simmons.<p>

"What the hell are you doing, Fitz? Did you forget that Ward tried to kill us?"

"Jemma, you don't understand what happened to me when Lily touched my shoulder. I could see into her head and everything that she knew, I knew. We have to bloody let go of the anger we have towards Ward because Skye loves him and they are going to need all of us for what is coming. I was given a gift."

"I won't do it. I told that wanker I would kill him and when I get the chance, I plan to."

"Jemma, do you really want to cross Louise Ward? She is as powerful as her aunt is and while Lily is unconscious, she is now her family's protector and she knows what you are planning."

"I don't care."

Jemma turned around and walked away from Fitz, angry tears falling down her cheeks.

"Turbo, she is really going to get hurt if she keeps up her grudge against Ward."

"Louise won't hurt her; she just won't let her touch her brother."

"I wonder if Lily Ward is going to be different after she wakes up because you are starting to freak me out."

"I am freaking out too, Mack. I'm afraid that my time with Shield is coming to an end because of my changed opinion about Ward and what happened."

"If you have to leave, I will follow you because you need someone to watch your back."

"I think my place is at the Ward farm and helping Lily."

Mack watched Fitz and worried about his friend. Whatever happened when he was healed not only fixed the damage that had been done but also changed Fitz. Whether it was for a good or bad reason remained to be seen.


	14. Kindred Spirits

Jemma wiped tears from her eyes as she stood watching the traffic go down Business 40 from the top of the hospital's parking deck. The wind blew through her shoulder length dirty blond hair and a light drizzle fell but her thoughts were on her argument with Fitz and not how wet she was starting to get.

"You might need this," a baritone voice carried over to her as an umbrella appeared over her head.

Jemma turned to see Thomas Ward standing there, looking enough like his brother to make her wish he would go away. She really didn't want to deal with that family for right now; they seemed to be taking Skye and now Fitz away from her.

"I can't get away from the Ward family no matter where I bloody go."

"I saw your argument with Fitz and while I will protect my brother, what he did to you and Fitz was wrong. He could have found a way to keep the two of you safe without dropping you out of that plane but given what I have learned about John Garrett that sack of crap would have had all three of you killed if Grant didn't do something quick. It sounds like Grant was stuck between a rock and a hard place; damned if he did, damned if he didn't," he said compassionately. "I have been where you and Fitz were too and Grant was stuck in the same position then as he was with the two of you."

"Are you talking about the well?"

"Yes. The only thing that saved my life and kept Grant from the same fate was the fact that Aunt Lily and Louise showed up. Lily took care of Christian and made him pay for it while Grant and Lou pulled me out of the well. Of course, my mother blamed Grant for everything so it wouldn't get out that her oldest son tried to murder her youngest son. He was her punching bag and the cycle continued with John Garrett and the six months he was imprisoned by Shield. I get that you are pissed off at what happened last year and that Fitz was hurt but it is time to get over it. Louise might not be as powerful as Aunt Lily but she is a very powerful witch and she is watching you like a hawk, Jemma. I don't want to see anybody else hurt over this so please let this go."

Thomas turned around and walked away, leaving the umbrella with Jemma. She watched him go and wished that she could just let it go but her anger over what had happened to the family they had become on the bus wouldn't ease. Deep down she knew the blame for this lay at the feet of John Garrett but he wasn't there and Ward was.

* * *

><p>Fitz stood there watching Skye and Ward sleep in the bed and pull out recliner and his mind reeled from every horrible memory that Lily had witnessed as a teenager. His former friend really hadn't stood a chance with that mother of his. The day Grant was taken from the juvenile facility played over and over in his head especially Lily's desperation to find her nephew and sorrow over the years at him never being found.<p>

He then walked out of the room and ran into Coulson, who looked concerned for his agent.

"Fitz, are you okay?"

"No. When Lily touched my shoulder, it was like we each saw every secret the other person had. I know the truth about what happened with Ward and his family and that deal you made with the Senator was so bloody wrong, sir," Fitz stated. "I need to leave Shield, Director. My place is at the Ward family farm to help Lily."

"I know that there is something Lily and Louise are hiding and I have a feeling you know what it is."

"Sir, if I could tell you I would. I know you don't want to hear this but it is time to let go of the anger we have towards Ward. I saw the abuse Ward suffered from Lily's point of view and what that mother of his did to her older three children was disgusting. Skye did the world a favor. He didn't stand a chance once John Garrett kidnapped him and started to work on his mind," Fitz quietly stated. "We need to keep an eye on Jemma, she is still planning on going after Ward and you and I both know exactly what his aunt and sister's powers are capable of. She won't win."

"I will have Agent Morse watch her, they are pretty close."

Coulson peeked into the room and saw that Skye was asleep before turning and walking down the corridor.

Fitz followed him and nodded at Thomas as he walked down the hall. The latter stopped outside of Skye's room and sat down in the chair that the security guard had left behind. He pulled out his tablet and started to work his charts while making sure that nobody came to Skye's room that wasn't supposed to be there.

* * *

><p>Jemma walked into the door of the hotel suite that she was sharing with Bobbi and Lance and stopped short at the sight of Kyle and Elena making out on the couch. The teenagers quickly pulled apart at the sight of the biochemist standing there, a look on her face that scared them a bit.<p>

"I may not like your father but he is too young to be a grandfather and after meeting your mother, Elena, I know she would have grounded you if she had seen this," Jemma stated with her hands on her hips. "Elena, you need to go back to your room while Kyle and I are going to have a talk."

Elena practically ran from the room while Kyle groaned in irritation and sat down on the couch with his head in his hands.

"Dr. Simmons, can you spare me the lecture? We weren't going to do anything, we were just kissing."

"Kyle, sometimes a person might not intend on having sex with the person they are with and it still happens."

"Why don't you like my dad?"

Jemma was stunned at the quick change of subject and didn't know how to respond to the teenager, who had his hand on his hips and looked too much like a younger version of Ward that she was comfortable with.

"Did he tell you about what happened last year?"

"Yes. He told me all about Hydra, his former mentor who took money from my grandmother to basically kidnap him and everything he did to all of you for that asshole."

"So you can understand why I hate him."

"I understand why but I think most of your anger is about what happened to Fitz," Kyle commented before turning to walk out of the room. "For someone who doesn't have romantic feelings for someone, you are sure doing a pretty good job of acting like you do."

Kyle walked out of the hotel suite and down the hall to the penthouse apartment the Wards were staying in. Jemma stared after him, knowing that the boy was right but too much had happened between her and Fitz. She closed the door to her suite, tears falling from her eyes and lay down on the couch, falling asleep.

* * *

><p>Coulson walked into the cafeteria and saw Natasha and Steve sitting at one of the tables having coffee and having a quiet conversation. He suspected that it was about how to get the money out of John Garrett's accounts for the Ward family.<p>

"Is this seat taken?"

Coulson waited for a response to his question and saw his childhood hero motion for him to sit down. He saw the plans and realized that they had come to conclusion that a nanomask would have to be used. That Steve was going to be the one to pretend to be Ward because he was around the same height.

"You lost more because of Hydra than anybody, Captain. Why are you helping a traitor?"

"Lily Ward was one of the first people to actually ask me how I was doing in regards to getting used to living in the twenty first century. In return, we talked to each other about different things in our lives. One of her stories was of her nephew that disappeared when he was fifteen years old and how badly the boy and his siblings had been abused by their mother. That because of who they were nobody would ever believe that the home of then Senator Travis Ward would be a toxic place for their children. Or that his wife was crazy and took pleasure locking her third child in a closet for hours at a time, leaving him out in freezing weather for thirty minutes for not putting up his toys or beating him with a hairbrush the day his sister left for boarding school for doing something most three year old children do every day and don't get punished for it. By the time that boy's mother got done with him, he was just vulnerable enough for John Garrett to brainwash him. Now we have found out that the mother knew what was going on and that every year afterwards she stole five million dollars out of the family's trust accounts to pay Garrett to do it. I am doing it for Lily and that abused little boy who didn't stand a chance from the moment he was born."

Coulson felt nausea rise inside of him at Steve's words and realized that he had contributed to it by agreeing to give Ward to Christian.

"I have never been so disappointed in you after I found out about the deal you made with Senator Ward," Natasha quietly said. "I get that he betrayed you, Phil but I have a feeling most of your anger is directed at Garrett and since he isn't here, Grant is a convenient scapegoat."

"I took down Shield along with Hydra for a reason, Phil. The old way of doing things wasn't working and that was what allowed Hydra to infiltrate them in the first place."

Steve stood up as he finished speaking and walked out of the cafeteria, holding what was left of his coffee in his hand.

"I've disappointed him, haven't I?"

"Damn right you did," Natasha replied. "I can see why he was chosen to take the serum. He is an example of how we all should be. He could hate Grant Ward for the things he did in the service of Hydra and be justified because he lost everything he knew because of them. He instead decides to help him. Maybe the rest of us could take page out of his book."

Natasha got up and left the room, leaving Phil Coulson to think long and hard about some of the decisions he had been making lately.

* * *

><p>Grant was sitting by his aunt's bedside while the doctors were examining Skye and hoped she would wake up soon. His family needed her calm presence to keep them from going crazy. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Lily was awake.<p>

"Grant," her voice quietly said. "What happened?"

"Do you remember touching Fitz on the shoulder and the both of you collapsing?"

Lily's eyes opened wide as it all came back to her in fast waves that just about overwhelmed her.

"Is he okay?"

"Yes. Your touch healed him."

"The healing touch," Lily stated, closing her dark eyes.

"That was what Louise called it. Fitz said that he saw every memory that you have ever had and that you did the same thing with him."

"I did. I saw the day you dropped the pod off of the plane. I understand that you were trying to save their lives, Grant but did you think about how terrified they would be when you did it?"

"It was the only way to save their lives. Garrett wanted them dead and he wanted me to do it. I couldn't do it because I started to care for both of them. I had to give them their best chance and that was it."

Before Lily could respond, the other members of their family came rushing into the room, hugging Lily and asking how she was feeling.

Grant got up and went down to Skye's room to find the doctors had left and that Jemma Simmons had come back, waiting to speak to him. Her eyes were red like she had been crying. He wanted to ask if she was okay but his right to do that had ended the moment the pod dropped off of the Bus.

"What's going on?"

"Jemma walked in on something that you need to know about."

Grant had a feeling this was about Kyle and that he wasn't going to like it, given that Simmons had come back to the hospital.

"I walked into the suite I am sharing with Bobbi and Lance to find Kyle and Elena making out on the couch. I sent Elena back to her mother and tried to talk to Kyle."

"Let me guess, he turned it around on you," Grant stated. "I didn't want him to get anything from his grandmother but apparently I wasn't that lucky. She was notorious for doing that. I will deal with him tomorrow."

"Grant, this needs to be dealt with tonight," Skye said quietly. "He will think that he got away with it."

"You're right. I will see if May or Romanoff will stay with you while I go back to the hotel and deal with my son," he sat down in a chair. "I am so not ready for this."

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later, Kyle looked up from his laptop to see his dad standing in the doorway of the room he was sleeping in and knew that Dr. Simmons had gone straight to him. He had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well.<p>

"First, you will apologize to Jemma for whatever it was that you said to her," Grant said sternly. "She didn't tell me but I can tell when someone has been crying."

"I called her out on having feelings for Fitz and that her anger at you was more about him being hurt than anything else."

"Kyle, that was uncalled for and you know it."

"I shouldn't have said but she pissed me off trying to lecture me like she was my mom. Skye can get away with it because I have a feeling she will be my stepmom one day," the boy said with a bit of an attitude.

Grant had to take a deep breath to control the temper that was bubbling under the surface. He would never physically or verbally abuse his son the way he had been. He wasn't going to be a pushover either.

"Lose the attitude, Kyle. Now back to what you said to Jemma, I understand why you got angry at her but she was also the one who caught you and knew that it was something that Adele and I wouldn't want you and Elena doing," Grant commented. "That's another thing. You are to have a condom on you at all times because if you make me a grandfather before I am forty, I will not be happy with you."

"Elena sent me a text before her mom took her phone away. She's grounded for a month and we are not to be alone together for a long time."

"I agree with Adele. You are grounded for a month, no phone or internet. Oh and you get to tell your Aunt Lily why."

Kyle turned pale as a sheet at his father's words because his Aunt, while being one of the nicest people in the world, also had told him to be careful with Elena and she wasn't going to be happy with him.

* * *

><p>Grant got back to the hospital to find all three of his siblings smirking at him as they stood in Lily's room. Jemma had told Tommy what she had found at the hotel and it had quickly spread to everybody else.<p>

"How did it go grounding him for the first time?"

"Shut up, Christian."

"Anna and I are thinking about adopting a child so any advice my brother can give me would be very useful," the Senator said, grinning.

"Christian James, I think your brother told you to shut up," Lily said, glaring at her oldest nephew.

Christian wisely shut up as Grant turned to face his aunt, who still looked pale but wasn't as weak as she had been earlier.

"I told him that he had to tell you but to wait until you were out of the hospital so don't give him too much trouble."

"I won't. Besides Adele already called me and has asked that for them not to be left alone together."

"I agree."

* * *

><p>A week had passed and both Skye and Lily were back on the farm but under orders to rest as much as possible. Both stubborn women were not very obedient patients.<p>

Fitz had shocked his Shield teammates by leaving, along with Mack, to stay at the farm. He was staying in another one of the buildings on the property that was going to be converted to a lab for him on the first level. The second level would have living quarters for him and Mack. They were sleeping on roll out beds on the first level after a central air system had been put in the building, now that it was starting to become one of the humid summers the Southeastern United States was famous for.

Ward, Michael and Kyle, as a part of his punishment, were helping Mack and Fitz with fixing the building and at a certain point, all of them had taken their shirts off. Of course, the latter covered in SPF 50 sunblock to protect his fair skin from sunburn.

Adele, who had brought lunch to them, warily watched her daughter admiring the new muscles forming on Kyle's upper body but was distracted herself. Despite her best efforts not to, Adele couldn't resist staring at Mack.

Skye, who was sitting beside Grant on a bench, as they both ate a sandwich, giggled.

"You are aware that Adele seems to be attracted to Mack."

"Yes, I am but I don't know what is going on with him and Fitz so I hope that looking is all she does."

Skye burst out laughing getting to the point Grant worried about the still healing wounds on her back.

"Grant, Fitz is still in love with Jemma. Mack has been a friend and protector for him. A lot of what you were before everything went down with Hydra."

"He seems to be letting me be that for him again and I don't know why."

"He saw Lily's memories of the abuse you went through and I think deep down a lot of his anger was missing the big brother he had found in you. I have witnessed him watching you and Thomas since he has been here. I think he is jealous that you have your real little brother back."

Before Grant could respond, he felt his cellphone go off and looked down at it to find a message from Kara. She had gone to get her girlfriend Ally from the airport.

"_**Don't be mad at me. Ally got it into her head that she needed to bring Susan with her even though I told her about you and Skye getting together. She won't let go of the thought of her best friend being with my best friend."**_

"_**Kara! What the hell!"**_

"_**Susan told me that Ally wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed to come with her but said that she will leave you and Skye alone. Ally and I will be having a conversation about this."**_

Grant looked up from his phone and felt dread at telling Skye that Susan was here in Virginia and that she would be at dinner that night.

"Skye, there is something that you need to know…"

* * *

><p>AN: The drama will kick in as Grant's ex shows up with Kara and her girlfriend, Ally. Especially when the judge in Grant's case decides to visit and a formal party is given by Lily that will show Skye what being in a relationship with a Ward, even the black sheep, really means.<p>

This chapter is longer than usual because everytime I thought I was finished, more ideas would come into my head that I hadn't planned on writing. I will start work on the next chapter here in a couple of days.


	15. The Ex

AN: Thank you to the **'lovely'** guest reviewer who told me that my story was unrealistic, that Lily was a Mary Sue and that I need to quit writing. I have learned in ten years of writing fanfictions and my own original stories that you can't please everybody and some people go into guest mode to spread hate like the cowards they are. I deleted your hateful review and any others you send to me because I don't have time for childish nonsense.

I apologize to any of my readers who were offended by me saying that but I received a very hateful review and I felt I had to respond to it. I have reached my limit with the haters in this fandom and have decided to speak up.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon, Skye was at the window of Christian and Anna's room standing with the latter as they watched two women with blond hair step out of the limo. One was about her height with shoulder length hair and a slender frame that was holding hands with Kara, so she knew that this was Ally.<p>

Skye had never felt insecure about herself before until she saw Susan for the first time. The other woman that Grant Ward had loved was a tiny blond about five foot tall, waist length hair and a classically beautiful face that reminded Skye of an old fashioned cameo she had seen one of her foster mothers wear.

"Skye, you have nothing to worry about while she is here," Grant said as he came behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

Anna quietly left the room to let her brother-in-law calm her friend.

"Grant, she is here for a reason and I don't believe for one minute that her best friend pressured her into coming."

"Even if that is true, she is wasting her time."

Skye turned in his arms and they shared a tender kiss, their arms wrapped around each other. They were so lost in each other, neither one of them noticed Cal step inside the room.

"They are here and Lily wants the both of you downstairs to greet them."

Skye reluctantly pulled away from Grant, took his hand and started to walk out of the room before her father's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Skye, your mother would be very proud of the woman you have become, just like me, Agent May and Coulson are. Grant and his son love you very much and the three of you have become a family. Don't let jealousy cause you to make a mistake that you will regret."

Skye smiled at her biological father before all three of them left the room and went downstairs. As they went out the front door, Skye was taken aback at the hatred that Ally stared at her with while Susan stood beside her friend without an expression on her face.

"Skye, this is Allison Ridgefield and Susan McCallister," Kara smiled reassuringly at Skye before speaking again. "Ally, Sue, this is Skye, Dr. Zabo's daughter."

"Oh so you're the bitch who shot Grant," Ally snidely stated.

"Allison, that is enough," Susan snapped at her friend.

Kara led Ally back to the car where the two women were soon heard arguing. Sue walked over to Grant and Skye, hugging him and shaking her hand.

"I apologize for Ally. She had some little fantasy in her head of her best friend being with Kara's best friend and she has a tendency to act like this when she doesn't get her way."

"Like a spoiled brat," Kyle said.

Grant turned to his son with a fierce look before facing Susan again.

"Sue, this is my son Kyle."

"You have a son?"

"I found out about him a month ago and he has been living with me ever since."

Sue quietly took that in before walking away to talk to Anna, who she had seemingly met before.

"That took the wind out of her sails," Louise whispered to Thomas as they stood watching what was going from right inside the house.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Sue isn't overt with her intentions the way Ally seems to be. She is sneakier and plays the peacemaker card until it is the right time to cause trouble."

"Are you or Aunt Lily going to stop her?"

"No. I want to see what she does first besides this will be the first challenge to the two of them being together. They either handle it together or fall apart."

"How did Kyle take the wind out of her sails?"

"She didn't picture being a stepmother to a sixteen year old in her little fantasy of a life with Grant."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, everybody was sitting around the table in the dining room, eating and quietly talking. Lily and Travis sat at each end of the table while Grant sat between his Aunt and Skye with Kyle on the other side of her. Across from them was Sue and Ally, who had stopped glaring but the latter still made her dislike of Skye very known.<p>

The tension in the air was so thick that everybody felt like they were going to choke. Lily and Louise shared a loaded look as the two witches knew what was going on but decided to sit back and watch it play out.

"So what do you do for a living, Skye?"

Susan's question came across as innocent but Grant glared at her, knowing what she was up to.

"I work in computer technology and have been working with Mr. Ward and Lily on updating their computer systems for their businesses."

"She is brilliant and an asset to this family," Travis said, smiling reassuringly at his son's girlfriend.

"I guess she has more skills than shooting someone when their back is turned and walking away," Ally commented.

"I think it is time to go back to our hotel," Kara said, standing up from the table and pushing her chair in.

"I agree," Sue said, glaring at her friend and standing up too.

It didn't take long for Kara and the other two women to leave the house. The limo was heard going down the road.

"I am going to slap that catty little bitch before this is all over," Anna commented.

"Before everybody leaves, I need to talk to all of you about the phone call I just received. It was Judge Monroe's office. He is coming here in a week to visit the farm and we are having a formal party that night at the Marriott all of us stayed at in Winston Salem. He wants Grant there so he is allowing you to leave the cabin to come to the party but you have to be back here by midnight," Lily said.

"Why is he doing this now?"

"We all knew that he would be making visits to see how everything is going," she answered Louise's question.

The family quietly left the dining room while Cal stayed back to talk to Lily, who was still sitting at the table.

"How are you feeling?"

"I am fine, Cal. I wish everybody would stop asking that," she bit out before realizing how harsh she sounded. "I'm sorry for sounding so harsh but my family is driving me crazy asking me that question and it caught up with me."

"I understand," Cal said. "Whatever happened was a good thing because I have been down to Mr. Fitz's lab and he is working on so many things down there. It is like his brain is trying to make up for lost time."

"His mind will be needed for what's to come."

* * *

><p>Later that night, Skye couldn't sleep and just laid there beside Grant, watching him. She had forgotten that her former SO was aware of everything around him and wasn't expecting his eyes to open.<p>

"Skye, you need some sleep."

"All I can see is Sue and Ally sitting across from us looking like the fashion models in the magazines and that one of them would be accepted more in your family's social circles than I ever would."

He pulled her into his arms and held her to him, running his fingers through her dark hair.

"You are what this family needs, Skye. My father, who was one of the biggest snobs on the planet, loves you and defended you. My son told me that he wants you to be his stepmother. I love you."

"You love Sue too."

"There is a difference, Skye. I loved her for helping me stop thinking about you at a time when I was so angry with you, I couldn't see straight. The difference is that I loved her but I am in love with you. That little display Ally made at dinner and when they arrived is going to come back to bite her because I have never seen Kara that angry. I don't think she and Ally are having the romantic reunion that she was planning."

"I don't trust Sue. Something doesn't feel right about her little 'sweet and innocent' routine."

"I know. She has an ulterior motive and I will find out what when I talk to her tomorrow although I have a feeling finding out about Kyle messed up her plans."

"Why?"

"Sue doesn't want children."

"She won't give up, Grant. She will try to make you think that she has changed her mind about that."

Grant realized in that moment that words weren't working and that he had to show her how much he loved her. She was the one he wanted, not Sue. He kissed her tenderly, losing himself in her before holding her tightly to him and rubbing her lower back until she relaxed enough to go to sleep. He lay there planning out his next move before falling asleep too.

* * *

><p>After lunch the next day, Skye sat at the dining room table in the main house, helping Lily go over plans for the party when Louise walked in carrying a white wicker basket. It was filled with different colors of daisies and other flowers that had obviously come from a florist.<p>

"These just arrived for you, Skye."

She smiled, knowing exactly who they were from and picked up the envelope but not before smelling the flowers. She pulled out the card from the envelope and smiled at the words written there.

'_**I don't care if your name is Daisy, Skye or even Mary Sue; the only one for me is you. These flowers aren't as beautiful as you are but I hope they make you smile. I love you.'**_

She giggled at the cheesy words he had written but fell even more in love. Grant Ward was many things but he wasn't a poet but she loved how his words made her feel.

"You helped him with this," she said, looking at Louise and Lily.

"Everything but the card, he wanted that to be from him," Lily said. "Did it work?"

"Yes."

Right when she finished speaking, Kara came into the room with Ally and Sue right behind her. Lily put on the expression that Skye knew was her 'I don't want you here but I'll be polite' face and watched Sue closely.

"What are you three up to?"

"Kara was going to give us a tour of your farm, Ms. Ward. If that is okay with you of course," Sue said, sounding so sweet it would give a person a toothache.

"I have no problem with that. You can go anywhere but Mr. Fitz's lab. He is running experiments down there and we wouldn't any of you to get hurt," Lily said, fighting not to roll her eyes.

The three women walked off but not before Ally bumped the table and caused Skye's flowers to fall. If Louise hadn't of been there to catch them, they would have been destroyed.

"Aunt Lily, I swear that I am going to slap that bitch before she leaves. Are they really staying for the party or can we make them leave before then?"

"I'm afraid not. Susan's father is friends with Judge Monroe and the two of them are leaving with him when the party is over."

Skye didn't say anything; she just sniffed the flowers once again before getting back to work. She ignored the fact that her powers were slowly building up and it was taking every technique that May, Lily and Louise had taught her to control it.

* * *

><p>Grant was standing in the lab with Fitz, Mack and Tommy, holding a ring box in his hands. He handed it over to Fitz and watched as he opened it, shock on his face.<p>

"Is this what I think it is? Isn't it too soon for that?"

"Yes it is, Fitz. That is for later when or if the time is right. I need you to keep it safe while my ex is here, I don't want anything to happen to it especially since Ally is with her. She has a problem of stealing things that don't belong to her."

Fitz took the ring box and opened the safe that had been installed behind a picture of the Avengers that Coulson had given him.

"Tommy implied that there is a gift you are giving Skye tonight. What is it?"

"Thomas, you talk too much," Grant shot back at his younger brother.

"This is making up for all of the times I never got to give you hell over dating, big brother." Thomas said, smirking.

"You are aware that payback is a bitch right? What if I tell Michael what you called your blanket when we were little?"

"You wouldn't dare!"

Fitz closed the safe harder than was needed and made Mack, Grant and Thomas turn to see what was wrong. The latter two were confused as to why he had gotten angry so quickly and for no apparent reason, while Mack grinned, knowing exactly what was going on with the engineer.

"So what are you getting Skye," Fitz asked, acting like he hadn't just had a very noticeable fit of anger.

"There is a necklace and earrings that go with that ring and I am giving her one of them tonight and the other the night of the party, so she can wear them. I can't make up my mind which one."

"Ward, why are you doing all of this?"

"Sue being here has made Skye insecure and jealous. It isn't helping that Ally attacks her every chance she can get and Sue is playing the 'sweet and innocent' act. She is far from it," he responded to Fitz's question. "I have tried telling her that she is the one that I am in love with and it isn't working so after talking to Kara, I am going with romantic gestures. Adele is helping me by cooking dinner for us down at the cabin while Kyle is spending the night at the main house where Adele and Lily will most and likely be watching him and Elena closely."

The door to the lab flew open and Louise stormed into the room, her long dark hair flying falling out of the neat bun it had been in. She looked mad as hell and Grant had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to like what his older sister had to say.

"If something isn't said to Ally about her attitude, I am going to hex her ass!"

"What did she do?"

"She saw the flowers you sent to Skye and purposely bumped the dining room table. The only thing that kept them from being destroyed was I used my magic to grab them."

Grant didn't say a word; he grabbed his cellphone and called Kara. His caramel eyes hardened in fury as he gripped the phone tight in his hand.

"Tell Sue that I need to talk to her, now! Ally's immature games had better stop, Kara."

He hung up the phone and left the lab, ready to do battle.

"The last time he got that pissed was when Skye's now ex-boyfriend showed up and she slept with him. He ignored her for days after that but this is worse," Fitz commented as they all worried about what would happen.

* * *

><p>Kara, Ally and Sue were standing on the porch of the cabin as Grant drove a golf cart from the direction of the lab and parked it. He got out and stormed up to the porch, the angriest Kara had ever seen him.<p>

"How fucking old are you, Ally? Skye and I are in a relationship and your little fantasy of you and Sue dating best friends and that big double wedding are not happening. In fact, if you don't cut it the fuck out, you will lose Kara."

"Grant, she will apologize to Skye and the comments will stop. I promise," Sue said, walking over to him and attempting to touch his arm.

Grant stepped back from her, knowing exactly what she was up to.

"I don't know why you are here, Sue. We broke up before I left Miami and this little 'sweet and innocent' routine isn't working. My life is here with Skye and my son. When the time comes, I plan on marrying Skye and having more children with her."

"I didn't mean to cause trouble, Grant."

Sue walked away with tears in her eyes as Ally glared at him before following her. Kara sat down in the rocking chair by the front door of the cabin and cradled her head in her hands.

"We argued for hours over her immature display last night and she still won't accept that things won't go her way. Neither one of them were who we thought they were, were they?"

"I knew that Sue wasn't the sweetheart she appeared to be. Now Ally surprised me and I am sorry that me breaking up with Sue has caused you pain."

Grant sat down beside his friend and hugged the crying woman comfortingly.

* * *

><p>AN: The next chapter will be the romantic dinner that Grant has prepared for Skye. Thank you to Serenity Shadowstar for helping me with the idea for a part of the upcoming chapters. Your ideas have been a treasure to read.<p> 


	16. A Romantic Night

AN: I am changing the rating for a brief moment of sexual content. I am not very good with detailed smut but for a part of this chapter, I felt a small part was needed.

Thank you to the reviewer who helped me point out something in the last chapter that I needed to fix in order to make one of my plot points about Fitz being jealous of Ward and Tommy sibling relationship a bit clearer to my readers. Your advice was greatly appreciated and it has been fixed.

I don't know how long this story will last because more ideas keep coming to me. I wanted an opinion on one of them. I have this idea where Ward has to be rushed to the hospital for heart trouble, only to find out that when Mike Petersen stopped his heart it caused damage. How does the tough specialist deal with his own body now working against him? How does it affect his developing relationships with Kyle and Skye?

* * *

><p>It was around nine o'clock when Skye left the main house and walked down to the cabin. She had helped get everything planned for the party and was ready for a long shower before checking her emails and going to bed.<p>

When she got to the porch of the cabin, Skye went to the door and opened it. What she saw brought tears to her eyes and a smile to her face.

The room was filled with candles and roses, a very nice dinner on the kitchen table and a handsome man standing in the middle of it, holding a purple daisy in his hand. She closed the door, locked it and walked over to Grant, kissing him softly.

It quickly turned passionate and they clung to each other until they had to pull away to breathe. She laid her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You didn't have to do all of this," she said quietly.

"Yes, I did. You weren't listening to what I was saying about Sue, so I decided to show you. I have something else for you."

He pulled away from her and walked over to entertainment center and pulled a jewelry box out of one of the side drawers.

"Gramzy gave me this right before she passed away and told me that I should give them to someone that I love. I think she knew that they were meant for you even though she had just met you."

Grant opened the box so Skye could see it and tears filled her eyes at the lovely antique diamond earrings. The round cut two point five carat diamonds winked at her from where they were attached to the box.

"Grant, how can you still love me enough to give me these? I shot you and told you that you should have slammed your head into a wall harder. I have been a bitch to you."

"Skye, I admit that I was very pissed off at you from the time you shot me until my conversation with Lily the day I got to Hamptons. Then I thought about what she told me that you were trying to keep me from following you into those tunnels or stopping you from following Raina," he gently kissed her on the forehead before speaking again. "You're right. I wouldn't have let you go down into that tunnel or would have followed you down there. The sight of you holding the obelisk scared the hell out of me and I didn't want you anywhere near that damn thing."

She pulled his head down to her and kissed him with a passionate abandon that had them both reeling.

"Take me upstairs, now."

"What about dinner?"

"We can heat it up later."

"What about your back?"

"Lily had Tommy check everything out and its fine."

Before she could finish speaking, his lips were on hers and Skye felt him lift her up into his arms. Their mouths separated long enough for him to carry her up the stairs to their room before meeting again after he sat her down at the foot of the bed and closed the door.

* * *

><p>Fitz was working down in his lab alone while Mack was up at the main house playing poker with Kara, who was avoiding her girlfriend like the plague. He was so lost in his work that Leo didn't hear Tommy step into the barn and walk over to him.<p>

"We need to talk."

Fitz jumped at the sound of his voice, not expecting the other man to be standing there.

"For some reason, you're jealous of my relationship with Grant," Tommy said. "Why?"

"For all of the ways I was angry at him, I still missed him being a big brother to me, even my friendship with Mack hasn't taken that away. Now he has a relationship with his real little brother again, so why would he bother with me?"

"He missed you too, Leo," Tommy commented. "He was worried about you when everything happened with you and Aunt Lily. The look on his face when I told him that you were okay made me jealous of you. For over fifteen years, my brother was gone from my life and all of it because of my parents, my oldest brother and a psychopath who fucked him up so bad that he might not ever completely recover it."

"Did you ever see your mother abuse him?"

Tommy shivered as a memory from when he was five years old came back to him.

"Yes. It was right after the Christmas that I turned five years old when I saw her throw him out into the backyard when it was five degrees outside and the wind made it feel even colder. He didn't have a coat on and I could hear him crying before he walked away from the door. What my mother didn't know was the butler had set up a place in the tool shed for Grant to go to and not freeze to death on the times that mother did that to him. She used him as her whipping boy for years. Christian told me what mother did to him on the night that Lou left for boarding school. He was three and had been Lou's little shadow since he was born. He missed her and was crying for her. She beat him with a hair brush until his legs were bruised, then put him to bed that way and wouldn't let the nanny calm him down; threatened to fire the woman if she even went into Grant's room,"

Tears filled Tommy's eyes at the thought of anybody beating a three year old like that. He had seen too many cases of child abuse during his ER rotation in med school.

"According to Christian, dad snuck in the room, calmed down Grant, rocked him to sleep and called Gramzy. She sent grandpa over and when he saw the damage mom had done to Grant, he took Grant and Christian away from our parents and they lived with them for a year. She then put on an Oscar worthy performance and pretended like the therapy she had been ordered to take was working. After she got both of them back, that woman found ways to torture them both that wouldn't leave scars and told dad that if he ever went over her head like that again, she would kill him. Our grandparents knew what she was doing but could never prove it so they could take custody again and Dad was too fucking scared of her to fight for his children ever again."

Fitz couldn't say a word as the realization of what Ward had gone through sunk in even more than it already had. It made him thankful his own mother who had raised him by herself but had been very loving to him.

* * *

><p>Skye gripped Grant's shoulders as a loud orgasmic scream came from her as he collapsed on top of her. She held him in place, not wanting to let him go as they remained joined together.<p>

"You are an ass, Grant Ward. We could have been doing this since Dublin and you had to choose Garrett."

She felt his laugh rumble in his chest before letting him pull out of her and lay down beside her on the bed. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her head on his sweaty chest, caressing her arm.

"If we had started sleeping together then, Garrett would have made sure that you died. He was a ruthless and selfish son of a bitch that would do whatever he had to do to get his way."

"Have you heard from Black Widow and Captain America about getting that money back?"

"They had arrived in the Cayman Islands yesterday and were going to go to the bank this morning. Aunt Lily said that they closed all of the accounts there and going to Switzerland to close the remaining accounts before coming back here."

"Good. Maybe once that money is back where it belongs, everybody can start to move on."

"Skye, do you know why Fitz has a tantrum everytime me and Tommy joke around with each other?"

Skye pulled away from him and started to laugh hysterically for a brief moment before calming down and kissing him briefly. She ran her fingers through his thick dark hair before starting to speak.

"He is jealous, Grant and so is Tommy. They are in competition over you."

"What?"

"Your baby brother and surrogate baby brother are fighting over you."

"Is that why Mack grins like a jackass everytime all four of us are in the same room together?"

"Mack isn't the only one; he and Christian have a bet going on which one punches the other first," she replied before moving over to straddle his waist. "I think we have more important things to do besides arguing over Fitz and Tommy, don't you?"

Grant smirked at her before pulling her down to him and flipped them over. His lips claimed hers in a hungry kiss that led to other more pleasurable things.

* * *

><p>Lily lay in her bed, reading her Kindle when tremors shook the house and she grinned knowing exactly what was causing them. She sat the reader down and got up, grabbing her robe and pulling it on.<p>

She stepped out of her room and walked down to the second floor to see Cal and Travis sitting in the loveseat in the small sitting room that was located at the top of the stairs, drinking scotch.

"I don't know if getting drunk is such a good idea," she said with a grin.

"It's better to do that and pass out than know that the earthquake is being caused by my son and his girlfriend having sex," Travis commented before taking another gulp of the strong alcohol.

Cal didn't say a word; he just sipped on the scotch and prayed for sleep to come soon. He has accepted that his Daisy was now a woman and he didn't have a problem with Grant Ward but it still wasn't easy for him to think about them having sex.

* * *

><p>After two more rounds of lovemaking, Skye and Grant were down in the kitchen. She was wearing his t-shirt and the denim shorts she had been wearing earlier while he was only wearing the khaki shorts he had been wearing.<p>

Skye sat on the counter and watched him heat up the steak, spring vegetables and baked potatoes that Adele had made for them. If her stomach wasn't growling, she would push him back on the table and continued what they had started upstairs. Once she had gotten a taste of what it was like to be with Grant, Skye didn't want to stop.

"I can't figure out if May is a liar or what," she commented, running her hand down his shoulder and enjoying the shudder that went through him.

Grant turned to face her, confusion in his dark eyes.

"May claimed that you weren't that good in bed, now I know she was either lying or trying to save face."

She grinned at his irritated groan before he started to speak.

"May was a mission. Don't get me wrong, she is beautiful but she wasn't the one I wanted and it showed."

He moved away from the stove and stood in front of her, kissing her softly and caressing her cheek before pulling away and turning back to the stove.

"I was an ass, Skye and deserved some of the ass kicking that she gave me. I used her and I know that no matter how much I try to apologize to her for that, she will never accept it and that is her right. The only part that pissed Lou and Lily off was the fact that she needlessly fractured my larynx and that was why the one that cast the spell that threw May into the wall back in the Hamptons did it. They both feel like Coulson and Shield taking cheap shots at me is over and they won't hesitate to use their power to keep May from hurting me again."

"I think she has calmed down. Lily had a conversation with her about the fact that she would lose me if she kept it up. I love her like a mom but I can't keep accepting everything she and Coulson do and not question them."

"Lily is one of the nicest people in the world but will fight for the people she loves. I think with me, it is regret that she couldn't help out with my mother until after it was too late."

He put their food on plates and sat them on the table before lifting her off of the counter and kissing her tenderly. She wrapped her legs around his waist and almost lost herself in him before her stomach started to growl, letting her know that other needs were more important at that moment.

Grant sat her down on her feet and held out the chair in front of her plate, making sure she was okay before he sat down to eat. They carried on a quiet conversation as they enjoyed the reheated dinner, acting as if outside world didn't exist, only them.

* * *

><p>AN: The chapter got a bit serious in the middle with Tommy's story about the abuse he had witnessed. The hairbrush story will come back up again as Lou finds out exactly what happened to Grant the night she went to boarding school.<p> 


	17. A Sister's Anger

Louise came storming into the house, not paying any attention to the tremors shaking the yard, and walked into the sitting room where her father, Lily and Cal were still sitting. Her fists were clenched and her dark eyes stormy as she looked at Travis.

"Did that raving bitch beat Grant with a hairbrush the night I left for boarding school?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"I overheard Tommy telling Fitz about how Christian had told him about it when we were kids," she bit out. "No wonder she wanted me gone, she knew with my powers that I wouldn't let her hurt Grant or Christian. I knew that she had done something for them to be living with Gram and Grandpa and how withdrawn he was but nobody would tell what she did."

"You would have killed her, Lou. I wanted to when I found out and your grandmother told me no. I hated it when Milly played the judge like a fiddle and got them back," Lily gently said.

"You never protected me and Christian from her," Louise said to her father. "What made you decide to grow a pair and help Grant that night?"

"He was screaming so loud after she got done with him and it took me thirty minutes of rocking him to calm Grant down enough that he would go to sleep. The bruises on his legs were already starting to turn black and blue, there was one place on his upper thigh where one of the bristles on the brush had cut him and he cried out in pain everytime he moved even after he went to sleep. It had to stop and I knew that my parents were the only ones who could."

"What changed to make you help her get them back instead of testifying against her and making sure she never hurt them again?"

Travis turned to face his still furious daughter and his emotions started to get the best of him. He felt Lily place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"After your grandfather left with Grant and Christian, she held a knife to my throat and told me that if I didn't help her get our sons back, she would kill me then go over to your grandparents' house and kill everybody there; that Lily would be first to die to prevent her from using a spell on her. She was crazy and scared the hell out of me."

"That bitch wouldn't have gotten out of her car before I stopped her or anybody else she sent. I would have seen them coming even if I had been asleep."

Louise watched her aunt and knew that her powers had always been stronger especially her ability to see what was coming. She suspected that Lily knew exactly who Tommy's biological father was but had chosen not to say a word because of the pain it would cause.

She walked over, grabbed the bottle of scotch and a glass, filling it full before drinking some. The burn going down her throat lasted a moment but the warmth that filled her body, made her drink some more. This was not meant to be a sober night for her and it wasn't like this was the first time she had used alcohol to dull the pain of her childhood.

* * *

><p>Grant woke up and glanced around to see that he and Skye hadn't made it back to the bedroom after eating. They were lying on the floor in front of the fireplace after making love there. He grinned as he remembered every moment of being with her. He would always want her.<p>

"Good morning," she said sleepily before leaning over to kiss him. "What time is it?"

"Three o'clock. I have to be up in two hours to work on the farm," he smirked at her. "I won't be a lot of use to Michael today. You wore me out last night."

"How about we go for round five in the shower? Or are you too worn out to try it?"

Skye had stood up while speaking and was rushing up the stairs to their bedroom. Grant quickly stood and followed her, finding her already in the huge shower and the water already running down her body. She looked breathtakingly beautiful.

Grant opened the glass door and stepped inside, wrapping his arms around her and lowering his head to kiss her. He went stiff as a board when her fingers traced the scar that was on his right thigh and knew that the inevitable question of how he got it was coming.

"Did you get this from one of your missions?"

"No. I have had that since I was three years old."

"You remember something from that long ago?"

"Despite what I told my family, a person doesn't forget their mother beating them with a hairbrush because she was drunk and didn't want to deal with a heartbroken little boy that was missing his sister."

Tears filled Skye's eyes as she took in what he had just told her and wrapped her arms around him. Her heart went out to the vulnerable little boy that had only wanted his older sister and had been abused by the one person who should have been a source of comfort to him.

They quickly dried off and made their way back to the bed, falling asleep in each other's arms as she gently caressed not only the scars from the gunshot wounds she had given him but the one his mother had put on him.

* * *

><p>Later the next day while Grant was giving Kyle a defense lesson, Skye stepped into Fitz's lab. She saw her friend sitting there, talking to Jemma on Skype and the tension between them. They had never recovered from Fitz's not telling her about Skye's new abilities and it broke her to see them acting so formally with each other.<p>

Fitz broke the connection after a few moments and turned to face Skye, who had tears in her eyes.

"I know that I hurt you when I left with Lily but I had to go, Fitz. The past six months had been a living hell with everybody else looking at me like I would hurt them. I have found my place here and I am so glad you came here too."

Fitz walked over and hugged her the same way he had after he had figured out that she had been changed.

"I understood because of how everyone was acting towards you. Now that I am here, I can help you and everybody else. I have been given a gift and I plan on paying back what I have been given," he responded before taking a good look at her and figuring out that something else was wrong with Skye. "What's the matter?"

"Grant told me about something his mother did to him when he was three years old and he still has the scar from when it happened."

"Tommy told me about how their mother beat Ward with a hairbrush on the night Louise went to boarding school. No child should ever have to go through what he did but Tommy didn't say anything about the scar."

"Grant told me that he let his family think that he blacked out what happened but he remembers it; all because he missed his older sister who had been more of a mother to him than his own."

"I hate to say this because it sounds so bloody judgmental but if you believe in some religions, she is roasting in hell right now."

"I think she would have paid for it if I had left things alone. Mr. Ward was in the process of divorcing her and putting her in jail. Grant didn't want Kyle anywhere around her and the other three, if they ever have children, didn't want her around them. It sounds like the rest of her life would have been miserable."

"Do you regret doing that to her?"

"Some days I do but then I hear stories of the things she did to her children and I change my mind. Do you think that makes Lady Siff and the Kree that she chased here right about me? Am I a monster?"

"You are Skye and in no way shape or form a monster. You have something really shitty happen to you and despite a lot of pain in getting it under control, have finally started to accept it and learn to deal with it."

"He's right, Skye. I think what I did when I betrayed the team changed you more than your new found power ever did," Grant commented as he walked over to where Skye and Fitz were standing. "Just remind me to never piss you off enough to shoot me again."

Fitz grinned at Ward's comment while Skye groaned and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Grant, how you can joke with her about that make me wonder if you have lost your damn mind! The bitch shot you," Sue stepped into the lab, her blond hair pulled into a ponytail and her tiny frame wearing a red tank top, blue jeans and a pair of blue Skechers with a red stripe going around them.

"Now this is the Sue I know. The one who showed her disdain for anybody she feels is beneath her social standing," Grant snapped back at his ex. "What the hell are you doing in here? Aunt Lily told me that you aren't supposed to be in Fitz's lab."

"It seems to be the only place I can find you to talk since you run here like a damn coward everytime I show up," Sue stated, her hands on her hips and glaring at the arm Grant had around Skye's waist.

"That should give you a clue that I don't want to talk to you. We said everything we needed to in Miami when we broke up. I don't why you have changed your mind and have decided that you want me back but that isn't happening."

"You might change your mind after you hear what I have to say," Sue smirked wickedly. "I know about Skye being an inhuman and that she can cause earthquakes. What would happen if I let the investigators that are trying to figure out how your house in Boston collapsed know about that little fact. Think about that, Grant because if I can't have you, I will make sure this bitch goes to jail for killing your mother."

Before anything could be said, Sue goes slamming into the wall and a furious Louise steps into the room. She walked over to where a stunned Sue stared at her in shock.

"Did you forget about the fact that the women in this family are witches?"

"She killed your mother, Louise. How can all of you accept her like this?"

"She did all of us a favor! That woman was an alcoholic and abusive pain that abused her husband and children. Skye did what she did after all of us found out that our mother paid Grant's kidnapper to take him and make his life hell. So it wouldn't take much for even the most mediocre lawyer to get her off on temporary insanity charges."

Louise looked like an avenging angel standing over Sue with her long dark hair flowing down her shoulders and her five foot eight height only enhanced by four inch heels from the black pinstripe business suit she was wearing.

"You are no longer allowed on our farm and after I tell Christian about this, any hope your father had for getting his help with the highway project is over. Get your dumb ass up off of the floor and leave," Louise turned to face Mack, who was standing there watching everything in shock. "Mack, escort Sue to the gate and make sure she leaves, tell the security guard that she is no longer allowed here."

The four remaining people watched as Mack led Sue out of the lab before Louise walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of scotch. She was getting ready to pour herself a glass of it when Grant's hand came down on top of it.

"Don't let all of this affect your sobriety, Lou?"

"You're too late, Grant. I got drunk last night after I found out that the rest of you have been keeping a big secret from me."

"Lou, you would have killed her! They couldn't let that happen."

"I knew something was wrong with you when I came home for Christmas that year and everybody acted like I was crazy. I wasn't stupid, Grant. I knew something had happened when they sent me to stay with you and Christian at Gram and Gramps house and wouldn't let any of us see mom."

Louise tried to move his hand from the top of the glass and Grant pulled it off of the counter, handing it to Skye.

"I am seeing if Aunt Lily will take you to a meeting. You fought too hard for over ten years to stay sober to let all of this destroy your life."

Louise started to cry and laid her head on her little brother's chest as Grant held his sobbing sister.

"Another family secret had better not come out, Grant or I will fucking lose it."

Skye and Fitz watched as the siblings held each other and felt badly for them. The latter hoped that Sue would not really do what she said she would because all hell would break lose.

* * *

><p>AN: This story is set six months after the events of What They Become so as the new episodes air, I might incorporate what happens into this story the way I did with Skye and Fitz's stronger friendship. Given that we haven't seen Ward yet, which is a stupid move on the writers' part, that bond between Skye and Fitz has been my favorite part of the last two episodes.<p>

I have noticed that I haven't really showed any flaws with Lily, and that is about to change. One will show up in the next chapter when she finds out about Sue's threats.


End file.
